Hiei's Dare
by CCD
Summary: Rated For Language Kuwabara had given Hiei a challange. He wants Hiei to go to school in the human world and act like a human. Can Hiei survive the dare?
1. The Dare Of All Dares

Author: CCD  
  
E-mail: Cruelseasons@yahoo.com  
  
Date last revised: June 11, 2003  
  
Date Story Published: June 14, 2003  
  
Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 1: The Dare Of All Dares  
  
(Note: I've decided that I cannot work with the dialogs before and after the story so this is going to be my new format. Thank you for understanding!)  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"Shut up, shrimp boy. You couldn't pass a test even if you tried as hard as you can. Hell, you probably couldn't make it through school," a very pissed Kuwabara yelled.  
  
"Hn, I could if I wanted to, fool. I have better things to do than to be going to your stupid learning facility. It would be a waste of my time," Hiei said.  
  
"Shut up, runt!"  
  
The Spirit Detective team was having a typical day in the human world. They had been relaxing in Yusuke's home when Hiei had decided to insult Kuwabara's intelligence. Kuwabara had then tried everything in his power to defend himself.  
  
"Hey children, can we get along. I'm trying to enjoy today since this is the only day of relaxing I've received since I became a Spirit Detective," Yusuke said.  
  
"I'm not going to let him get away with it, Urameshi. I'd like to see him go to school and pass," Kuwabara said.  
  
"Just drop it Kuwabara," Yusuke said.  
  
"No, Hiei has insulted me for the last time. I want to see him go to school with us, Urameshi."  
  
"What are you going to do about it, fool."  
  
"I dare you, Hiei. I dare you to go to school for the rest of this term and I also dare you to act like a human while you're going to school."  
  
(Think of term as an equivalent of a semester in American schools.)  
  
The room became quiet after Kuwabara's challenge. Tension hung in the air. Kurama, who had remained silent throughout the ordeal, decided that he needed to speak up.  
  
"It seems that Kuwabara has laid down a challenge for you, Hiei," Kurama said.  
  
"Hn, I accept."  
  
Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama all stared at the fire demon. Yusuke and Kurama were both shocked at the fact that Hiei had actually said that he would go to school let alone act like a human. Kuwabara held a confident and cocky grin on his face.  
  
"Hey Kuwabara, how do you plan on getting Hiei into the school," Yusuke asked.  
  
"We could say that he's my cousin from another country and that he'll be staying her until our term is over."  
  
"I'd rot in hell before I would become your cousin, you fool," Hiei said  
  
"Well then Hiei, I guess that you will have to be Yusuke's cousin then," Kurama said.  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Where's shrimp going to be staying?"  
  
"He can stay here. After all, my mother always goes on one of her drinking sprees for a week and he is posing as my cousin after all," Yusuke said.  
  
"Now all we have to do is to get him a uniform for your school, his books, and a bag to carry the books in," Kurama said.  
  
"I'm broke," Yusuke said.  
  
"I don't have a lot of money either," Kuwabara said.  
  
"Don't worry. I'll take care of it. Come Hiei, we have to go shopping," Kurama said.  
  
"Hn."  
  
With that Hiei and Kurama left Yusuke and Kuwabara.  
  
"This is going to be interesting," Yusuke said.  
  
"Hey Urameshi, let's make a bet on this. If the shrimp makes it through the term, I'll give you my TV. If he doesn't make it, you hand over your spot as the leader of the team to me for a month."  
  
"You're on."  
  
The two of them smiled at their agreement and then they turned on the TV. and began to watch whatever was on.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"Kurama, do I honestly need all of this junk."  
  
Kurama looked over at the fire demon. He was struggling to hold the boxes and bags that contained the items that he would need for school. Kurama had actually enjoyed the shopping spree where Hiei wished that there were no such thing as a mall.  
  
"Yes you need it," Kurama said. "We have one more stop to make Hiei and then we can go back to Yusuke's house."  
  
"Hn."  
  
Kurama and Hiei walked into a store that contained the school uniforms for the city. Because of his size, Hiei had to have his uniform altered in order to fit him. With their shopping done the two demons headed back to Yusuke's apartment. Kuwabara had left, but in his place were Keiko and Puu.  
  
(Puu is the spirit beast that hatched Yusuke's egg from his ordeal to get his life back. Puu shows up in the Dark Tournament.)  
  
"Hello Kurama! Hello Hiei," Keiko said.  
  
"Hello Keiko! How are you doing," Kurama asked.  
  
"I'm fine. Hiei, Yusuke told me that you're going to go to school with us. Kuwabara shouldn't have dared you to do this. You could probably back out of it if you wanted to."  
  
"Hn. The poor fool truly thinks that I won't be able to complete his challenge. He is sadly mistaken. I will prove him wrong."  
  
"I'm sure you can stand school, Hiei, but do you truly think you can act like a human? You won't be able to use your Jagan or your black dragon around anyone," Yusuke said.  
  
"You needn't worry about me, Yusuke. Acting like a human is easy."  
  
They all talked about the dare for a while. It soon began to get late. Kurama and Keiko left, leaving Yusuke, Hiei, and Puu alone. The Spirit beast flew out of the room and into Yusuke's bedroom.  
  
"Hey Hiei, you might want to get some rest. We all are going to have a big day tomorrow."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"You can go ahead and have the bed in my room. I'm going to sleep out here."  
  
"Hn."  
  
Yusuke was starting to get frustrated with the Jaganshi.  
  
"Hiei, will you stop saying hn an answer me."  
  
"I told you earlier, Yusuke. You needn't worry about me. I sleep in the bed if you'll leave me alone."  
  
"All right. Goodnight Hiei."  
  
"Hn."  
  
Yusuke smiled. Starting tomorrow, Hiei would be a slightly different person.  
  
Well at least he'll keep his attitude. You can take away everything else, but his attitude will never change.  
  
With this Yusuke fell asleep.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hiei couldn't sleep. For one thing, the soft bed he was in was ten times different from the hard trees he was use to sleeping in. The second reason was that he had something on his mind.  
  
I should have never agreed to that stupid dare. It will be a waste of my time.  
  
Hiei rolled over on his side. He tried to go to sleep, but it never came. The deal truly bothered him. Eventually the Jaganshi fell into a restless sleep.  
  
************************************************************************ 


	2. First Day In Hell

Author: CCD  
  
E-mail: Cruelseasons@yahoo.com  
  
Date last revised: June 15, 2003  
  
Date Story Published: June 14, 2003  
  
Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 2: First Day In Hell  
  
Dedicated to: X Haloblade2, Tatoosh, Lakante, Cheeto, Kuroi Bara no Twilight, Alley-cat, SweetAngel, Arisu, Shorty-girl, Cam Harvay, ChildofDarkness, Jessica (a.k.a. Hiei's Luva), Alpha_07, Storm Elf, Chibi Demon of Darkness/Angel Red Flame, Seri-chan, Oscar, and One-Winged Angel  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Hiei scowled. All morning long he had been pushed around, tested, and interrogated. Hiei was pissed. He knew that somewhere within the confinements of the school walls were Yusuke and Kuwabara. Yusuke went just so that he could keep track of Hiei and the bet. Within two and a half hours he had finally been placed inside a classroom. Yusuke, Keiko, and Kuwabara smiled when he walked in with Mr. Takenaka behind him.  
  
"Students, I would like to introduce Hiei Urameshi. He's the cousin of Yusuke Urameshi and will be joining us for the rest of the school year," Takenaka said.  
  
Hiei was told to take a seat next to his "cousin." Hiei noted that some of the students stared at him weird. He could here their quiet conversations with his exceptional hearing.  
  
"He's Urameshi's cousin. We're dead if he can fight like his cousin."  
  
"He's got to know how to fight. Look at those bandages on his forehead and hand."  
  
"I'm not going near him."  
  
The class continued to whisper until the teacher called everything to order. Unfortunately, this teacher was Mr. Iwamoto, one of the teachers that students despised. He taught English and made sure that he called on Hiei every chance that he got. (I don't know what he teaches. I just know he's one of the teachers that makes Yusuke's and Kuwabara's life a living hell.) Hiei became frustrated because of this and started to make complex sentences. Kuwabara, Yusuke, and Keiko were shocked, Mr. Iwamoto turned red in frustration, and students were trying to translate the complex sentences Hiei used. The bell rang and they were released from English. It was lunchtime for most of the students; so Kuwabara, Keiko, Yusuke, and Hiei went up to the roof.  
  
"Hey shrimp, how did you learn to speak English," Kuwabara said.  
  
"By reading Kurama's textbook. English is too easy. That fool, Iwamoto, didn't know English as well as he thought."  
  
At that Yusuke started to laugh until Keiko slapped him.  
  
"That's not funny. Mr. Iwamoto is trying to be the best teacher that he can be," Keiko said.  
  
"Come on Keiko, everyone knows that both him and Mr. Akashi would try to screw half of us over if given a chance," Yusuke said.  
  
"He's still a teacher."  
  
"Keiko, he chased you when he was infected by the Makai insects. He tried to set me up by stealing from the students and blaming it on me. Hell, I'm sure he helped Akashi find a way to cheat when Kuwabara scored over a 50 on the science test when I was a ghost. Iwamoto is just a rotten person who doesn't know when to stop picking on kids," Yusuke said.  
  
"He did what," Kuwabara yelled at the revelation of who was the true culprit on the grade change on his test.  
  
"The fool had better leave me alone. I've heard enough of his mouth today," Hiei said.  
  
"Hey Hiei, what did you do to make him so mad? He was turning red," Keiko said.  
  
"He was speaking in broken English. He didn't know half of the words that he was trying to use. He probably didn't know what I was saying."  
  
Kuwabara and Yusuke both started to laugh. Who would have thought that Iwamoto couldn't speak English well?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Meanwhile in the Teacher's Center.  
  
"That boy insulted me. The nerve of him using those complex sentences and trying to show off," Mr. Iwamoto said.  
  
"There is no way that he could be that smart. He's Urameshi's cousin. I'm sure that it's just for show," Mr. Akashi said.  
  
"Why don't you try to get him to look foolish? It will prove that he isn't as smart as the others think he is."  
  
"It will be an easy task for me. I'm giving a pop quiz in class today and I'll make him take it."  
  
Both teachers began to laugh at the plan to get even with their new threat.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
At the sound of the bell, the four of them began to reluctantly get up and leave the roof to go to class. They walked in to see Mr. Akashi standing at the head of the classroom.  
  
"Alright, put away everything and prepare for to take a quiz."  
  
The students began to put their things away. Mr. Akashi walked up to Hiei.  
  
"I want you to take this as well."  
  
"That's no fair. Hiei hasn't even been here a day and your giving him a quiz," Yusuke said as he jumped out of his seat.  
  
"He is going to take this whether he wants to or not."  
  
"You needn't worry Yusuke. I'll take the quiz," Hiei said.  
  
Yusuke sat down as Akashi passed out the materials for the test. Hiei looked over the test once and began to mark his answers.  
  
This is all too easy.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The rest of the day went well for Hiei. His other teachers were polite and gave Hiei some peace. The bell finally rang to release all of the students from their classes.  
  
"Hiei, you shouldn't have let Akashi give you that test," Yusuke said.  
  
"Don't worry. He'll be shock when he grades it."  
  
Kurama met Yusuke, Kuwabara, Keiko, and Hiei at the school gate.  
  
"How did your day go Hiei?"  
  
"Well, I managed to piss off two teachers and make enemies out of them. Other than that, today was boring."  
  
They all laughed at Hiei's comment and turned to go to Yusuke's house to discuss the day further.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Mr. Akasi's cry could be heard throughout the entire school.  
  
"How could he have scored a perfect paper?"  
  
"He cheated again, Mr. Akashi. He's a roach that we need to squash like his cousin," Mr. Iwamoto said.  
  
Mr. Akasi nodded while he thought about a way to get revenge of Hiei Urameshi.  
  
************************************************************************ 


	3. Hiei's Problem

Author: CCD  
  
E-mail: Cruelseasons@yahoo.com  
  
Date last revised: July 2, 2003  
  
Date Story Published: June 14, 2003  
  
Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 3: Hiei's Problem  
  
Notes: I wanted to know if anyone wanted me to turn this into a romance story. (Keep in mind I don't do guy X guy. I have nothing against it, I just can't bring myself to write it.)  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Yusuke and Hiei walked into the apartment. Atsuko was nowhere in sight. On the table there was a note from her.  
  
Yusuke, I went out for a little while. Take care of the house for me.  
  
Yusuke turned to Hiei.  
  
"Well it looks like the house is ours for the night. My mother went out again."  
  
"Hn,"  
  
Yusuke went over to the couch and picked up the remote controller for the T.V. After watching T.V. for a little while he went to check on Hiei. Hiei was sitting on a futon on the floor doing his homework.  
  
"Where did the futon come from," Yusuke asked.  
  
Hiei threw a folded piece of paper at the Spirit Detective. Yusuke opened it to see what it said.  
  
Dear Yusuke,  
Botan has informed me of the little dare that has been going on. Since Hiei will be staying with you I have taken the liberty of aiding some minor comforts to your home. I had a futon, food, and a little bit of money be brought there. The money is Hiei's and Hiei's alone to spend as he pleases, but I suggest it should be used on stuff that he will need while staying in the human world. It is under the futon. I also suggest that the food should be used sparingly.  
Tcho  
The Mighty Koenma  
  
(Tcho is Spanish. I don't know what it means exactly but I know it is a form of saying goodbye. Koenma uses it a few times in the show.)  
  
Yusuke looked up at the Jaganshi.  
  
"Hiei did you get the money from under the futon?"  
  
Hiei nodded.  
  
"Ok so here's another question. Why are you doing your homework?"  
  
"Hn. The point of the dare was for me to pass, wasn't it?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, unlike you, I have to do my homework in order to pass."  
  
Yusuke just stared at Hiei. He didn't really realize that Hiei was very intelligent. In fact, Yusuke knew practically nothing about Hiei. Yusuke turned and left Hiei to do his work. He started to flip channels of the T.V. About an hour later, Yusuke felt Hiei come out of the bedroom. Yusuke looked at the doorway and watched as Hiei walked right passed him and out the front door.  
  
Where is he going?  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
(Before I continue I would like to remind everyone that Hiei is trying to act as human as he possibly can. It is a part of the dare that Kuwabara laid out.)  
  
Hiei was walking around outside. He needed fresh air after sitting within the walls of Yusuke's home for nearly two hours. To him, the walls felt like a prison. Hiei walked towards a familiar area that he knew. The homes were much nicer and the wealthier residents of Japan. This was Kurama's neighborhood. Hiei walked till he saw Kurama's home. He looked up to see that Kurama's bedroom light was on. Hiei went up to the door and knocked. The door opened to reveal Kurama's mother, Shiori.  
  
(Shiori knows who Hiei is, but like her "son" she has no clue that he's a demon.)  
  
"Hello Hiei."  
  
"Hn. Hello."  
  
"I guess you want to see Shuichi. You know where his room is."  
  
Hiei nodded and went up to Kurama's room. He opened the door to see Kurama sitting at his desk working on his own homework. Kurama turned towards him and smiled.  
  
"Trying to complete the dare I see," Kurama said.  
  
"Hn."  
  
The room grew quiet as Kurama finished up his homework. Hiei sat down on Kurama's bed. His thoughts were turning to what was going on the past couple of days since the dare began. Hiei felt strange. Kurama finished his homework and the two of them went downstairs to the kitchen to get some "sweet snow," Hiei's favorite treat. Kurama took this time to study his friend. Something was bothering him.  
  
(Sweet Snow is Ice Cream.)  
  
"Is everything alright Hiei?"  
  
"Hn. You needn't worry about me, Kurama."  
  
"I'm not worried Hiei. You just look like you have something on your mind. I figured that you might want to talk about it."  
  
Hiei sighed. He might as well talk to Kurama. He knew if he didn't, Kurama would not stop until he did.  
  
"I guess you could say that I'm a little distracted by what's been going on since the dare has been going on. I feel like a."  
  
"A human?"  
  
Hiei nodded. As much as he hated to admit it, since he had joined the Spirit Detective team, he had gained many human habits. He always took off his shoes in the homes of the other detective members, ate the same junk food they did, and slowly he was gaining emotions that he didn't want. Hiei sighed again. He was losing the battle that he thought that he was winning.  
  
"Hiei, there's nothing wrong with becoming more human-like. I did."  
  
"I'm not you, Kurama."  
  
With that Hiei stormed out of the house. He couldn't jump trees like he normally did when he was pissed off. Instead he walked around for a while. He continued to walk until he reached Yusuke's home. There were no lights on. Hiei ran up the stairs and entered Yusuke's home. Yusuke was sleeping and mumbling nonsense. Hiei left Yusuke alone and went to sleep hoping that he could escape his dilemma for a few hours.  
  
************************************************************************ 


	4. Detention

Author: CCD  
  
E-mail: Cruelseasons@yahoo.com  
  
Date last revised: July 16, 2003  
  
Date Story Published: June 14, 2003  
  
Notes: Last Chapter I was told that Tcho wasn't Spanish. It might be French. (I've taken both and I have a tendency of switching words from the two languages.) I'm still deciding whether or not I want this story to go to the romance side. Let me know what you guys think.  
  
CHAPTER SPOILER: Don't read if you don't like:  
  
This chapter contains some of that good old fashion teacher torture (Not in that kind of sense but you guys know what I mean.  
  
Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 4: Detention  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Hiei yawned. He was bored. They were sitting in Iwamoto's classroom listening to him lecture. Hiei thought school was a waste. He was sick and tired of all the broken English spoken and he was sick of Iwamoto. All Iwamoto did was try and get him in trouble, but failed every time.  
  
Well at least we have a three-day weekend ahead of us. I won't have to deal with these idiots until Monday.  
  
"Are you paying attention Mr. Urameshi," Iwamoto asked as he walked towards Hiei's desk.  
  
Hiei knew that he was talking to him since Yusuke had decided that today was the perfect day to skip school.  
  
"Hn, I'm listening."  
  
"Good, Now where is your half-brain cousin today?"  
  
"How should I know? I'm not his keeper."  
  
"He's a cockroach that should have been smashed long ago. I'd hat to see you go down with him."  
  
"Hn. You underestimate me, Iwamoto."  
  
"That's Mr. Iwamoto to you Urameshi and don't get smart with me."  
  
"Hn, don't push your luck Iwamoto."  
  
The entire class gasped as Iwamoto turned around and slapped Hiei in the face. Hiei wiped his mouth and gave Iwamoto a smug grin. He had gotten under Iwamoto's skin and it showed. Iwamoto's face was so red that it was starting to turn purple.  
  
"That's it, Urameshi, you have disgraced this class enough." Iwamoto said before Hiei interrupted.  
  
"This class or you Iwamoto?"  
  
"Shut up, you've just earned yourself detention with me this afternoon. I expect to see you back here at the end of the day."  
  
"Hn, I have nothing better to do."  
  
At that the bell rang to dismiss the class to lunch. Iwamoto and Hiei gave each other hateful glances before Hiei left the classroom. Kuwabara and Keiko met him in the hallway.  
  
"What did you make him mad for, runt? He gave you detention and detention is never pretty when it comes to him or Akashi," Kuwabara said.  
  
"You shouldn't get the teachers angry Hiei. It could get you a bad reputation," Keiko added.  
  
"Hn, I could care less. If he wants to give me detention, I'll make sure that he regrets it this afternoon when everyone is gone."  
  
With that Hiei turned and walked over to the staircase that led to the roof with Keiko and Kuwabara following him.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Meanwhile in the teacher's center.  
  
(I'm repeating a sequence from a previous chapter. Forgive me if this is boring. I'll try not to do it again,"  
  
"You actually gave him detention," Akashi said.  
  
"Yes, He's such a fool. He thinks he can mess with us and in the end he's mistaken. Trust me Hiei will pay and then we can squash his cousin like the roach he is," Iwamoto said.  
  
They both began to laugh. Akashi and Iwamoto were both pleased with this. They had been trying to get Hiei in trouble since he insulted them on his first day of school. Now they could have their revenge on Hiei.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
The day quickly came to an end. Hiei began to walk to Iwamoto's classroom. When he got there, Iwamoto was nowhere in sight. Hiei sighed and sat down in a desk. He pulled out his homework and began to work on it. Iwamoto came in fifteen minutes later.  
  
"So you actually showed up. I thought you would be long gone after I was late."  
  
"Hn, shows how well you know me, Iwamoto."  
  
Hiei didn't even to look up from his homework. Iwamoto scowled.  
  
"Put that away. This is detention, not study hall. I want you to write 'I will not disrespect my teacher' 100 times and in English. Then you will clean this entire classroom. That means you will clean everything from the floor to the ceiling. When you're through I'll let you go. You're lucky Takenaka told me to go easy on you. He called that stupid meeting after school just to tell me that. I'll be back in an hour. I expect that to be done."  
  
With that Iwamoto left the room. Hiei just pulled out a sheet of paper and began writing. Instead of writing what he was suppose to write he decided to write 'Iwamoto is an ass hole' 100 times and placed it on his desk. He then began to trash the classroom. Papers were knocked everywhere. The trashcan was kicked over. Desks were rearranged and pushed on their sides. Hiei took the cold coffee that was sitting on Iwamoto's desk and pored it onto Iwamoto's cell phone and laptop. He then unplugged the school computer and then opened the hard drive and crossed some of the wires inside. Hiei began to destroy some of the posters and other objects in the room. He wanted to show Iwamoto that he was a force to be reckoned with. When he had accomplished this, he picked up his things and walked out of the room and out of the school with a smug smile on his face.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Iwamoto began to walk back to his classroom.  
  
There is absolutely no way he could be finished. This way I can give him detention on Monday.  
  
Iwamoto opened the door to his classroom. He stared at his once clean room and fainted as he witnessed the madness that had fallen over his classroom.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Yusuke and Kuwabara were rolling on the floor. After Hiei told them what he did, the two of them couldn't stop. They were at Genkai's temple having an important Spirit Detective meeting. Kurama and Shizuru were trying their best not to laugh or crack a smile. Yukina was confused. Keiko was clearly angry as she began to squeeze Puu too hard. Botan, Genkai, and Koenma were nodding their heads at the immaturity of the two boys who were on the floor laughing. Hiei just sat there preparing to take whatever the members of their little group would throw at him.  
  
"I can't believe that you would do something so cruel," Keiko said.  
  
"I had to teach him a lesson. I can't kill the fool or act like a demon so I thought that being a so called 'Brat' would get him to leave me alone," Hiei said in his defense.  
  
"That was just too rich Hiei, I wish I could have seen Iwamoto's face when he saw his phone," Yusuke said.  
  
"That was intense, runt," Kuwabara said.  
  
"I just hope your ready to face the consequences by the time you have to go back," Botan said.  
  
"As I told Yusuke, you needn't worry about me. That goes for all of you. If any of you try to help me, I'll kill you when this 'dare' is over."  
  
With that the Jaganshi got up and walked outside leaving his stunned comrades in the room.  
  
************************************************************************ 


	5. Choices & Consequences

Author: CCD  
  
E-mail: Cruelseasons@yahoo.com  
  
Date last revised: August 10, 2003  
  
Date Story Published: June 14, 2003  
  
Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 5: Choices & Consequences  
  
Note: I just wanted to give everyone a heads up on what I am going to do. A lot of people reviewed & said that they wanted this story to go to the romance side. I decided that in the next chapter or so, I will be adding a girl to the story & turning this into a romance story. (Sorry for those who didn't want this to become a romance story, you were outvoted.) Anyway, sorry for not updating sooner. I've been in the process of moving & I've been working out details with another author. She's going to let me use one of her characters for this story. (Yes, she is going to be the girl that I was talking about.)  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
Hiei began to walk away from the temple. He was frustrated. For one thing, he did something that was not like him. He was doing what he was dared to do. He was acting like a human. He didn't want to act like a human. Although he would never admit it, it scared him. All of his life he had detested humans. Humans were weak, pitiful creatures. Now in a way, he felt like he was becoming one.  
  
Of all the stupid things that fool could do to me, this had to be the worst thing he could come up with  
  
Hiei sighed. He was miserable.  
  
"Damn you," Hiei said.  
  
"You shouldn't be so hard on him Hiei."  
  
"Why shouldn't I, Kurama?"  
  
Hiei turned & looked up at his friend, who was standing on a tree branch.  
  
"Because he didn't do anything wrong."  
  
"Hn, he dared me to go to his stupid school & act like the one thing I dislike the most."  
  
"You were the one who decided to accept the dare Hiei. You & Kuwabara have fought a needless battle since the two of you met. You argue about everything from his intelligence to your height. If the two of you had just stopped this a long time ago, you wouldn't be in this situation."  
  
"Hn.  
  
"Hiei, I was thinking about what you said when you were over my house the other day. I understand that you're not like me. You can never live with being a 'human', but that doesn't mean that being like one is all that bad. Look what it did for me."  
  
"Yes, you've become a softhearted shell of your formal self. Yoko Kurama wouldn't deal with half the stuff you put up with today."  
  
"Hiei, that's not what I meant. I gained a new perspective on life. I learned that even someone like myself, does not have to live in the shadows forever. Much of the demon population knows that I'm still alive and it doesn't affect me. They know I'm never going to live in the demon world any more & that I've become a citizen in the human world. I also learned that I can love & be love for who I am."  
  
"Yes, but the people who love you don't know your past Kurama."  
  
"You do and you still stay by my side as a friend & ally."  
  
"Hn, that's because we both have lived within the shadows & have fought for our lives."  
  
"Because we are outsiders Hiei. If some people won't accept us, we need to find others who will. Shiori, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Koenma, Boton, & many others accept who I was then & who I am now. They accept you too, but you don't want to see it. You don't let anyone in, Hiei. You don't let anyone know you."  
  
"Hn, why should I care about acceptance?"  
  
"Because you've never been accepted before. You won't let yourself be accepted. I know, because I was that way & I've seen how you react to everyone. You won't even tell Yukina that you are her older brother when you know she is searching so hard to find you."  
  
"She would never accept me. I'm the forbidden child told in Koorime legend. She would just scoff & turn away from me."  
  
"How do you know that, Hiei? You don't even talk to her often. She wants to find her brother."  
  
"Hn."  
  
"Just think about it, Hiei. You will have to face the consequences to your choices soon enough."  
  
With that, Kurama left. Hiei watched him leave. Part of him knew the fox spirit was right, but he didn't want to believe & trust in Kurama's words. It would hurt too much. Hiei thought about Kurama's final statement. He knew it was true and admitted it. Hiei knew that when Monday rolled around that he would have to go back to school & face the stupid thing he did to Iwamoto & his classroom. He would have to face the teachers & the hundreds of humans that attended there. His choice to accept the dare was coming back to haunt him & he hated it. Hiei looked at the path that led to the temple as if to look back at what he was missing out on & then turned to walk towards the city.  
  
**************************************************************************** ** 


	6. Reality & Temptations

Author: CCD  
  
E-mail: Cruelseasons@yahoo.com  
  
Date last revised: October 2, 2003  
  
Date Story Published: June 14, 2003  
  
Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 6: Reality & Temptations  
  
Notes: I just want to dedicate this chapter to Angel Red Flame and Iaka Crescent. They both have allowed me to use their characters Hinoki and Angel for this story and I'm pleased to be working with their characters. BTW Thank you for the reviews I've toped 100. Thank you so much. I'm glad you like my story.  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
Hiei walked behind Yusuke. It was Monday and he was going back to the one place he hated the most in all of the three worlds. Hiei sighed. Today was just going to be one of those days; typical & boring. Iwamoto and Akashi would bother him to no end, other teachers would be revoltingly nice to him, and most likely he would be in some deep trouble. He would most likely be punished for the damage done to the room and for the equipment he ruined. Both of them walked into the school just in time to hear old gossip.  
  
"Did you hear about Iwamoto," one of the students asked another student in the area.  
  
"Yeah, I heard that some punk trashed his stuff and he fainted," the other replied.  
  
Hiei ignored the two of them and continued his way to class. He paused for a moment when he heard more gossip.  
  
"I heard that Iwamoto gave a student detention and didn't supervise him. Iwamoto left the room and when he came back he found out the student had trashed his room and the student was no where to be found. He fainted and was carried out of here on Thursday by EMTs. (I know they don't use the abbreviation EMT, but I don't know what they are called in Japan.)," another student said.  
  
Hiei sighed once again and continued walking.  
  
I'm certainly making a good reputation he thought sarcastically  
  
Hiei was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he ran into Yusuke who had stopped to talk to Kuwabara and Keiko. Hiei fell to the floor.  
  
"Alright, somebody's dead," Yusuke said as he turned.  
  
When Yusuke saw it was only Hiei. He extended his hand and helped him up. Hiei swatted the hand away and rose on his own.  
  
"Hiei are you OK? You've seem very distant lately," Yusuke said.  
  
"Hn. I'm fine," Hiei responded before he walked passed Yusuke and into the classroom.  
  
That's weird Yusuke thought. Hiei normally would just say that I don't need to worry about him. He never gives a direct answer.  
  
"Urameshi, what's wrong with Hiei," Kuwabara said.  
  
"I don't know, but I know how we can find out. After school we need to talk to Kurama. Maybe he knows something."  
  
"We shouldn't pry into his business Yusuke. Hiei is a quiet person and keeps to himself. Why can't we just go and ask him what's wrong," Keiko asked.  
  
"Hiei would never tell us what's bothering him. He doesn't like to tell other's his problems. Our best bet is Kurama. Hiei trusts him more than he trusts any of us. If Kurama won't tell us then Hiei will just have to do this on his own," Yusuke said.  
  
"Hey Urameshi, do you think it's the dare."  
  
"I don't know."  
  
With that the trio walked into the classroom. Keiko and Kuwabara went to sit down while Yusuke looked over at Hiei. Hiei was reading something from his textbook. It was obvious that he was studying. Yusuke heard footsteps behind him and he turned to see Takanaka behind him.  
  
"Well Yusuke, it seems that you are now taking your education seriously. Since your cousin has joined us, you've only missed one day of school," Takanaka said.  
  
"Well I have to look out for my cousin. He doesn't know his way around yet," Yusuke lied.  
  
"I do have a concern about your cousin, Yusuke."  
  
".and what would that be old man?"  
  
"It's Mr. Takanaka, Yusuke, and as I understand it when Hiei had detention with Mr. Iwamoto Thursday afternoon, Mr. Iwamoto left Hiei alone to go to a meeting. When he came back to his room there was an unbelievable string of vandalism done to the room and the equipment as well as an inappropriate phrase written on a piece of paper on his desk. Hiei was also no where to be found."  
  
"Yeah, well about that."  
  
Takanaka gave Yusuke his full attention. He was eager to hear Yusuke's side on this. Yusuke sighed and began to speak.  
  
"Iwamoto and Akashi have treated Hiei poorly since he's been here. Iwamoto gave Hiei detention for absolutely no reason at all. His only objectives are to make Hiei look like a bad kid since we share the same last name. Hiei isn't a bad person. He studies, works hard, and doesn't deserve this kind of treatment. He's not like me at all and shouldn't be held accountable for the things I've done. Please give him a second chance?"  
  
Yusuke looked over at Hiei and sighed.  
  
Oh man, I sounded like a girl complaining like that. I hope no one hears about this. Come on Yusuke think, if Takanaka doesn't buy that then we're screwed. We need to come up with a better plan.  
  
Yusuke looked at Takanaka. He was looking at Hiei and seemed to be deep in thought. He then turned back to Yusuke.  
  
"I'll give him a second chance, Yusuke. The only reason I'm doing it is because I've never heard you protect someone with words instead of actions. I'll also be monitoring Mr. Iwamoto and Mr. Akashi and their behaviors towards Hiei," Takanaka said.  
  
Yusuke breathed a sigh of relief.  
  
"Thanks old man," he said as he went to sit at his desk next to Hiei's.  
  
"You didn't have to do that," Hiei said.  
  
"Do what?"  
  
"I heard you conversation with the old fool. I don't need you to look after me nor do I need a second chance. I deserved what they were going to give me. Who knows, maybe they would have expelled me so I wouldn't have to come here again."  
  
"Come on Hiei, I know school can be a pathetic and boring place, but you have your pride on the line. If you leave now Kuwabara would actually hold something over you and trust me that lug head probably wants to say that he's superior to you in something."  
  
"Hn."  
  
With that the final bell rang and the students began to settle down for their first class of the day. First period was so boring and they really didn't do anything since they had a substitute. Hiei simply continued to study for Akashi's science test and Yusuke fell asleep on his desk. Both of them were grateful for the class to end.  
  
"That substitute was so boring. Everyone hates her; including me," Yusuke said as he yawned and stretched.  
  
"Hn, you hate all of your teachers," Hiei said without taking his eyes off of the book he was reading.  
  
"That's true," Yusuke said.  
  
He looked over at Hiei and noticed that the demon was still reading. He sighed as they continued to walk towards their next class. All of a sudden he felt like there was something watching them. He stopped and looked around.  
  
"Is it just me Hiei or do you feel like we're being watched?"  
  
"Hn, it's just two females. They're staring at us from the corner. Don't worry about it," Hiei replied as he walked into the next class with Yusuke right on his heals.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
(Alright it's the moment we've all been waiting for. Time to introduce the girls.)  
  
Hinoki Koyotua & Angel Redflame stood transfixed on the short, dark haired demon walking with Yusuke Urameshi. For one thing neither of them believed that a male demon would be anywhere near a human school. The other thing was the fact they hadn't seen a male of their race in years. They had crossed through the barrier wall at different times in their life and had met. They became good friends and looked out for one another.  
  
Hinoki was 5'4 with auburn hair and gold eyes which were a common sight for Neon Demons. She was very well known for her fighting spirit, beautiful singing voice, and poetic phrases that she used whenever she was entertaining someone. Normally around Angel she just acted normal. Angel on the other hand was half fox and half fire demon. She poses as a human with black hair, tan skin, and her eyes were a mixture of Silver, Black, and Blue. Angel is quiet and is normally labeled as a loner. She two has quite a bit of fight in her since anyone who has fought her before has yet to ask for a rematch. Angel likes to live as a loner and although Hinoki and her are friends she doesn't like to depend on her to back her up.  
  
"He's cute," Hinoki said ending the silence between them.  
  
"I didn't notice," Angel replied.  
  
"Oh come on Angel, I saw you looking at him. You've got the hots for him just as much as I do."  
  
"So what if I do, it doesn't change anything."  
  
"Come on, Angel, you're beautiful. What guy wouldn't fall over you?"  
  
"I don't see any guys falling over me. I know I'm beautiful whether I'm in my human or my demon form, but no one seems to notice."  
  
It was true. Angel and Hinoki were beautiful girls, but the boys always ran after Hinoki and never after Angel.  
  
"Well then it's settled, we need to get a guy to fall over you, I say we need to get to know our friend a little better. I'm not saying we have to like him, but we do need to find out what he's doing here. I've heard rumors that he's staying with Yusuke Urameshi and that they're cousins. I know that's not true because I sense no demon blood in Urameshi."  
  
(I know Yusuke is part demon in some way, but I choose to leave that out.)  
  
"Fine, we'll scope him out. Now let's go to class before we're late."  
  
With that the girls split their different ways and headed off to class.  
  
(How did I do with the girls. Since they are on loan I can't exactly portray them like the lender wants me to so I did the best that I could. I hope you enjoyed it.)  
  
**************************************************************************** ** 


	7. A Matter of Honesty: Hiei's Secret Revea...

Author: CCD  
  
E-mail: Cruelseasons@yahoo.com  
  
Date last revised: October 17, 2003  
  
Date Story Published: June 14, 2003  
  
Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 7: A Matter of Honesty: Hiei's Secret Revealed  
  
Notes: Sorry for the long wait. I have been busy. I've got PSATs coming up and I had to study. In fact they're tomorrow. (PSATs are practice standardized tests that I have to take.) Oh well, I had to update. Anyway for starters, Hinoki and Angel aren't in this chapter (Sorry guys, my main focus is on Hiei.), second Hiei really isn't in this chapter, and third I need you guys help. I need 4 friends for Hiei. (Yes Hiei needs friends outside of the Spirit Detective group). If you want to be a friend of Hiei or you have a character that you want to be Hiei's friend. Just send me a bio in regular form (list) with typical facts about your character. The more you put the more I look at the bio. Anyway I hope you enjoy Chapter 7.  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
The sound of doors slamming was the first sign that someone in the Urameshi household was mad. That someone happened to be Hiei. From the moment he walked out of school Hiei was not the kind of person that anyone wanted to mess with. Yusuke, Keiko, and Kuwabara followed him back to the apartment and were now in the living room letting Hiei cool down.  
  
"What do you think the shrimp's so mad about," Kuwabara said.  
  
"I don't know," Keiko said.  
  
"I think I know. Hiei was called out of class remember and I don't think it was by Takanaka. I think it was Iwamoto or Akashi," Yusuke said.  
  
"What makes you say that, Urameshi? I mean we saw them today in class and they didn't say anything to Hiei," Kuwabara said.  
  
"Exactly, they didn't say anything to him or tease him. I don't know if you noticed but Takanaka was in both of their classes today at the back of the room to monitor their behavior. They would wait until it's safe to harass him," Yusuke said.  
  
"Monitor their behavior? Since when does Mr. Takanaka do that," Keiko asked.  
  
"That's what the old man told me. I assume that's what he was doing," Yusuke said.  
  
A loud sound disturbed their conversation.  
  
"What was that," Kuwabara asked.  
  
"Most likely Hiei blowing off some steam," Yusuke replied.  
  
Another sound interrupted them. The three friends were worried about their comrade in the bedroom. All of a sudden Yusuke stood up and headed for the door.  
  
"Where are you going Urameshi," Kuwabara asked.  
  
"I have to go talk to Kurama. He might know why Hiei has been acting weird lately. Do you think you could stay here and keep an eye on him?"  
  
Keiko and Kuwabara nodded.  
  
"I'll see you guys in a little while, then" Yusuke said as he walked out the door.  
  
Yusuke began to run towards a familiar neighborhood well known for its wealthy inhabitance. Since Kurama's mother had married a rich business man, they had moved to this area. Yusuke felt out of place seeing as he would fall under the category of a poor kid with a mother who spent her time partying, drinking, and working. Yusuke stopped in front of Kurama's house to catch his breath. He then walked up to the house and knocked on the door. Kurama's stepbrother Shuichi answered.  
  
"Hello Urameshi!"  
  
"Hey Shuichi is your stepbrother home."  
  
"Yeah, come on in, I'll get him. Shuichi," the young boy yelled.  
  
(No, I didn't make a mistake. The two stepbrothers have the same name. Kurama is of course the demon name for the elder Shuichi and the one used more often. Kurama's human family will always call them both Shuichi I'm afraid. Confusing? Yes, I know it is, but you'll get it.)  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yusuke Urameshi is here to see you."  
  
Kurama came down the stairs to where Yusuke and his stepbrother were waiting.  
  
"Thank you, Shuichi," Kurama said as the boy left the room.  
  
He then turned to Yusuke.  
  
"Hello Yusuke what brings you here?"  
  
"I need to talk to you. It's important."  
  
"Come on in and don't forget to take your shoes off. We'll go to my room so we can have some privacy."  
  
Yusuke took off his shoes and followed Kurama up the stairs to his room. He began to look around at all the expensive items in the house and it began to make him queasy. Even if he could ever be as rich as Kurama's family was he couldn't do it. Rich people made him ill.  
  
"How do you put up with this," Yusuke asked.  
  
"All of what?"  
  
"This." Yusuke said as he waved his hands to try to show Kurama what he was talking about.  
  
"I don't let it bother me. My mother is happy that's all that matters to me. She deserves happiness. You know that."  
  
Yusuke did know. Kurama had said many times in the past how much he wanted his mother to be happy and about his so called crimes against her. Being a demon who selfishly tried to save his own life by placing his spirit into a human's body to be born again and then treat his new "parents" as if they were nothing but trash was a sin to him and he was trying to make amends with his mother. He couldn't make amends with his father because he was dead. When they reached Kurama's room, Kurama closed and locked the door. They both sat down. Kurama waited patiently for Yusuke to begin.  
  
"Kurama, do you know what's going on with Hiei?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"He hasn't been himself lately. I mean first he trashed Iwamoto's room, then he runs into me at school and then answers me instead of blowing me off like he always does, and now he's throwing a tantrum in my bedroom. I left Kuwabara and Keiko there to keep an eye on him in case things got worse. They're concerned about him too."  
  
"I see."  
  
"In fact, now that I think about it, I don't think Hiei has been normal since Kuwabara gave him that stupid dare. I think school and being a human is getting to him."  
  
Kurama nodded in agreement.  
  
"I've noticed his strange behavior too. We've talked twice and he seems to be very distant and doesn't seem to know what he wants to do. I think Hiei may be going through some changes that are to difficult for him to handle. We need to be patient with him and let him have some time to sort through his thoughts and feelings. If we don't, Hiei will only get worse."  
  
"Is their anything else that's wrong with him?"  
  
Kurama sighed.  
  
"I think Hiei is fighting a fear that he's never had to confront before. Although he would never admit it to any of us, I believe Hiei has a fear of becoming human."  
  
Yusuke stared at Kurama and began to laugh.  
  
"Hiei a human! That will happen when pigs fly. How can he be scared of that?"  
  
"That's not what I meant Yusuke. Hiei doesn't want to have emotions or anything that deals with acting like a human. He's lived his way for so long that he doesn't like things to be changed and he doesn't like going in different directions. The only reason Hiei accepted Kuwabara's dare was because it was a matter of pride. Hiei would have never done it if the circumstances were different."  
  
Both of the boys fell silent. Kurama was right. Hiei would have never accepted the dare if it wasn't Kuwabara's dare. Yusuke sighed.  
  
"Thanks for your help Kurama. I really need to get back and see how Hiei's doing."  
  
"Anytime Yusuke, I'll come by your house tomorrow and see how you two are doing. I think I might need to talk with Hiei."  
  
Yusuke nodded. The boys went down the stairs. Yusuke put on his shoes and began to walk out of the door.  
  
"See you tomorrow Kurama."  
  
"Goodbye Yusuke."  
  
With that Yusuke began to jog back to his home. It had gotten late while he was in Kurama's house and he knew that both Keiko and Kuwabara needed to get home. He entered and saw Kuwabara was sitting on the floor watching TV and Keiko had fallen asleep on the couch. Yusuke woke Keiko up.  
  
"I'm sorry I took so long you guys. You guys need to get home, we'll talk tomorrow."  
  
Keiko and Kuwabara nodded as they gathered their schoolbags and left. Yusuke looked at the door to his room. He knocked gently and walked into the room. Hiei was laying on his futon with his back facing away from Yusuke. Yusuke knew he was still awake. Yusuke looked around and found no evidence of Hiei throwing things. In fact there appeared to be no conflict at all in the room. He began to get ready for bed and then climbed into bed. He looked at Hiei who had rolled over to face away from him. Yusuke sighed again and then went to bed without trying to talk to Hiei.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hiei opened his eyes when he heard Yusuke fall asleep. He didn't want to be bothered. Iwamoto had called him out of the classroom. He had talked trash to Hiei and accused him of a lot of things. It shouldn't have bothered Hiei, but it did.  
  
Stupid human, why should I have to listen to his petty threats? Why should I care about the things he said.  
  
He closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep, but failed. Hiei was still mad at Iwamoto. He was starting to feel lost, lonely, and afraid.  
  
Why should I be afraid of something so stupid?  
  
A knot lodged itself in Hiei's throat and he began to feel moisture around his eyes. Before he could stop himself, Hiei found himself doing something he had done in a long time. He began to cry. Hiei couldn't stop himself from doing so and soon he had cried himself to sleep.  
  
**************************************************************************** ** 


	8. Trust Us

Author: CCD  
  
E-mail: Cruelseasons@yahoo.com  
  
Date last revised: October 20, 2003  
  
Date Story Published: June 14, 2003  
  
Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 8: Trust Us  
  
Notes: I had a few reviews asking why Hiei didn't cry tear gems. I was half asleep when I wrote Chapter 7 of this story and so I left out a few details. I'll add the gems this chapter to keep you guys happy. I also had a few people saying that Hiei crying was really weird. I know it is, but you have to remember his problem. He has gained a fear of becoming human and gaining emotions or anything else dealing with humans. The deeper he lets it affect him the worse off he's going to be. He will be a little OC from time to time, but that is kind of what I want to happen. Having Hiei as a flexible and constantly changing person will make the story more interesting and of course bring tons of laughter to us. Just bare with me on this and I'll make sure it's worth your while. I still have big plans for Hiei and things are about to get interesting.  
  
By the way I'm sorry this is so short. I wanted to do another quick update before the end of this week in case I don't get a chance to update in a while.  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
Yusuke woke up to his mother's drunk rambling. He sighed and got up. After he finished getting ready he went over to his far from pleasant companion who was still asleep. He knew he had to wake him up. When he walked over to Hiei something shiny caught his eye. He looked down to see a gem on the floor. It was black with light blue lines on it. Yusuke looked and found a few others. He recognized them to be tear gems and similar to what Yukina cried. Yusuke froze at the thought. He knew that Hiei wasn't the kind of person who cried. He was tough, prideful, and incredibly stubborn. Yusuke shrugged it off and placed the gems inside of his pocket. He would ask Hiei about them later. Right now he needed to wake him up.  
  
"Hiei, get up," Yusuke said.  
  
Hiei mumbled something that Yusuke couldn't understand and turned away from Yusuke.  
  
"Hiei, come on you lazy bum, we've got to go to school," Yusuke said dreading the idea of school.  
  
He thought that the word school would get Hiei up, but it didn't work.  
  
"Alright, we have to do this the hard way."  
  
Yusuke grabbed Hiei's blanket and yanked it off of him. It did no good since Yusuke felt Hiei's body temperature rise to compensate for the loss of the blanket. When he saw it didn't work he walked into the kitchen and got a glass of water. He walked back to his room and dumped the glass on his sleeping victim. Hiei shot up as water covered his face.  
  
"It's about time you woke up. We've got to get going or Kuwabara and my mother will never let us hear the end of staying home."  
  
When Hiei recovered from the water, he said something that Yusuke thought he would never hear come from his mouth.  
  
"Hn, I'm not going."  
  
Yusuke turned around and looked at Hiei. He could tell that no matter how hard he tried he wouldn't get Hiei to budge. Yusuke sighed.  
  
"Ok, then we'll both skip today."  
  
"Hn, do what you want, I'm not going back."  
  
Yusuke looked over at Hiei once again. He knew something was bothering him, but he knew Hiei would never come out and tell him. Yusuke had to go for Kurama for answers all because Hiei didn't trust him. Hiei didn't trust anyone, not even Kurama anymore. Hiei never believed in friendship, only of survival of the fittest and having allies who would in the end most likely betray him. It was all Hiei knew. Yusuke knew he needed to talk to Hiei.  
  
"Fine, you don't have to go back, but at least get up and get dressed. We're going out."  
  
Hiei looked at him and without verbally answering he complied with the request. When he was dressed the two boys left and went to a park. Yusuke wasn't a park kind of person, but he knew Hiei would be more likely to talk in a natural setting. Hiei couldn't jump trees because of the dare, but he could still enjoy his surroundings. Although he would never admit it, Hiei liked being in nature. It was that simple. Yusuke sat down on a park bench.  
  
"Hiei, we need to talk."  
  
"Hn, what about?"  
  
"About you I guess."  
  
"I already told you that you needn't worry about me and my problems. You have no right to interfere in my life." Hiei said before he was interrupted.  
  
"Yes I do Hiei, especially if it involves one of the members of our group. I'm not one for passionate or mushy speeches, but a lot of people are worried about you and you don't seem to give a damn about anyone else. Keiko, Kuwabara, Kurama, and others are concerned because you haven't exactly been the ass-kicking Hiei that we know. I mean sure you still have your attitude, but I mean come on, your acting like a big sissy."  
  
"Why do you care about what I do?"  
  
".because, like it or not Hiei, despite our differences the others and I guess me as well see you as a friend. I guess it's just what friends do."  
  
"It still isn't your concern."  
  
Yusuke sighed.  
  
"I know Hiei. I think what a lot of the others want is for you to trust them. Sure we joke and tease, but we can be serious at times."  
  
"Name one time you've been serious."  
  
"Right now,"  
  
"Besides right now,"  
  
Yusuke paused and thought before answering.  
  
"When I talked to Genkai back during the Dark Tournament, I remember that I was suppose to do her final ordeal. She had told me that in order to gain her power I had to kill her."  
  
(Warning: Spoilers: Do not read below if you don't want to find out some things that you may have not seen during the Dark Tournament Saga.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
(This is in one of the episodes from the Dark Tournament Saga. It takes place just before and during the Semi-finals)  
  
Yusuke walked into the cave.  
  
"All right Genkai, where are you hiding?"  
  
"Have you made your decision? Then let's get started."  
  
"You're my teacher. I can't do. I'm sorry, but I give up."  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I couldn't do that. I remember getting mad at her when I found out that it was a test to go through the ordeal. I remember saying how I 'couldn't believe I said all that touchy-feely stuff for nothing' and her reply about me 'remembering everything that went through my head.' In the end after she was killed by Toguro, I remembered her words and how right she was. So how's that for spilling my guts."  
  
"Hn, It doesn't matter one bit."  
  
"Hiei, I guess the point to all this is that one day you're going to look back and regret things. In the end you may wish that you had trusted us a little more and told us what was bothering you. In the end you'll regret it, but it still is your decision. Now come on, I'm sick of this advice crap. Let's go."  
  
They walked back to the house. When they entered Yusuke pulled the tear gems from his pocket and held them out to Hiei.  
  
"By the way, I think these are yours."  
  
Hiei took them without saying anything and retreated to the bedroom. Yusuke plopped onto his couch and decided to take a nap since he didn't want to deal with Hiei any more.  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
This is a little different than other chapters I've written, because I tried to have Yusuke have a heart to heart with Hiei. It's hard to do that when their personalities aren't the best for it, but you got to take what you're given. I had Yusuke as a little OC in this chapter, but things will get better. I'll have the girls back hopefully by next chapter. I just need some time to experiment with them and to get them the way I want them. I really haven't thought through their storyline yet so be patient with me. 


	9. Breaking the Rules

Author: CCD  
  
E-mail: Cruelseasons@yahoo.com  
  
Date last revised: November 25, 2003  
  
Date Story Published: June 14, 2003  
  
Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 9: Breaking the Rules  
  
I'm back! Yea! I finally got a chance to write a little bit today. I also have put the girls back into the story. Hiei is a little OC. I tried to go for his attitude during the 3 Artifacts Series and I don't think I'm all that successful. I'm still looking at applications for people to become Hiei's friends outside of their little circle so if you have someone send me a profile. I've picked one person because I liked their character, but I haven't had a chance to look at all the applications so you guys still have a chance. Anyway enjoy!  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
Why did he have to find these? Hiei thought in dismay.  
  
Hiei had known that he cried tear gems like the Koorime did. It was the only way someone could identify him as half-Koorime. Although Yusuke already knew what he was, it still bothered him. The gems were a constant reminder of what happened to him in the past and told of his family. Family was a subject that was sensitive to Hiei. His mother was dead, he knew nothing of his father and all he could do was look at his sister from a distance for the fear of her getting in trouble because of his past or hating him for not being the greatest person in the world. Hiei sighed and laid down on his futon. He hid the gems in his pocket until he could find a better place to hide them. He looked out the window.  
  
I'm sick and tired of playing by Kuwabara's stupid boundaries.  
  
Hiei got up and went up unto the window sill. He saw the tree outside and jumped out on it. It felt good. He decided that it was something he needed to do. He jumped trees and rooftops until he reached the school. He stood outside of Akashi's room on a tree limb. Akashi was yelling at Kuwabara and his gang of friends while everyone else including Keiko.  
  
Why do we have to put up with their cruel punishments and their ranting? They have no right to punish others when they are the ones that should be judged.  
  
A smirk came across Hiei's face. He had a great idea to get rid of them once and for all.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Angel and Hinoki looked out the window when they felt that Hiei was nearby. They saw him standing on a tree outside of Akashi's science room. They could hear the teacher yelling at some of his students. They both smirked and began to pass notes.  
  
"Why do you think he's out there and not in here?" Hinoki wrote.  
  
"I don't know. He's an odd character, definitely a loner. It's hard to say." Angel wrote.  
  
We need to find out some more about him. We need to find out if he's here for good or bad purposes and his relationship to Yusuke Urameshi. If we don't we could be in deep trouble.  
  
They looked out the window again. Hiei was staring right at them from the tree. They then heard a voice in their head.  
  
If you really want to know, I'll tell you, but first I need your help to do something. Meet me at the park when school is over and we'll talk.  
  
In a blur they watched Hiei disappear before their eyes. When they turned to one another the bell rang for them to go to lunch. They walked into the cafeteria and sat down.  
  
"What do you think, Angel? Do we meet him later at the park or not."  
  
"You said yourself that we need to find more about him. I say we go."  
  
"What if he double crosses us and doesn't give us the information?"  
  
"Then we beat him to a bloody pulp until he does."  
  
"Angel!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Don't say that. We need to make an alliance with him."  
  
"Fine then we go and help him with whatever he needs help with and earn his trust. Who knows he might give us what we want."  
  
They both nodded and rose from their seats to go back to class.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
As the sun began to set the bells of the school rang to dismiss the students from their classes. Hinoki and Angel met in the front courtyard and walked to the park. As soon as they walked in the voice from earlier spoke again in their head.  
  
It's nice to see some cooperation. Meet me at fountain in the middle of the park. I'll be their waiting,  
  
The two of them continued to walk until they reached the fountain. They sat down on a bench and waited.  
  
"I actually didn't expect you to show up," a voice from behind them said.  
  
"We want to learn more about you and the only way to do that was to take you up on your offer," Hinoki said.  
  
"Fine, if you'll help me, then I will tell you what you want to know."  
  
"What exactly do you want us to do," Angel asked.  
  
"It's kind of a little bit of revenge. I need to get revenge on two of the teachers in the school who have disrespected and made a mockery out of me. I need your help to help me carry out my plan."  
  
"Do tell," Hinoki said.  
  
Hiei told them his plan.  
  
"I'm in. It sounds fun," Hinoki said.  
  
"If she's in then I might as well enjoy myself as well," Angel said.  
  
"Good, meet me here again tomorrow and we'll discuss further plans. Once we're through, I'll tell you what you want to know."  
  
With that Hiei disappeared from their sight.  
  
(I'm a wicked woman. You'll find out Hiei's plan next chapter. Also I'll try to add Hinoki and Angel a little more to the story. You'll also find out why Hiei is doing this so look out for my next update. Sorry this chapter is so short.)  
  
**************************************************************************** ** 


	10. The Sweet Sound of Revenge

Author: CCD  
  
E-mail: Cruelseasons@yahoo.com  
  
Date last revised: February 7, 2004  
  
Date Story Published: June 14, 2003  
  
Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 10: The Sweet Sound of Revenge  
  
Author Notes: I'm so sorry for the lack of updating. I started a new job and I've been struggling with school. Plus I've had writer's block on this story for the past month. I had to come up with something good for Hiei's revenge. Anyway, this is what you've been waiting for so on with the show  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
Hiei stood casually outside the teacher's lounge. The smug look on his face told that he was up to no good and was about to do something that could get him expelled. Hiei could have cared less. He told Kuwabara that the bet was off until he settled a score with someone. Kuwabara complained until Yusuke set him strait with a hard right hook to the jaw. It was only then that Kuwabara agreed to give him all the time he needed. Hiei looked over at Hinoki who was peaking around the corner awaiting his signal. He gave her a silent salute and disappeared. Hinoki took a deep breath.  
  
"Here we go. I hope this works," she said aloud.  
  
Hinoki was going to have to act and act well in order to see this get done right. After her task was done it would be up to Angel's acting skills and Hiei's plan to make them miserable. She ran around the corner and banged on the door of the teacher's lounge. The door opened revealing Mr. Iwamoto and Mr. Akashi in the doorway.  
  
"Miss Koyotua, what's wrong," Mr. Iwamoto said.  
  
"It's so awful Mr. Iwamoto. Angel and I were attacked in the park. Please you have to come with me and help her," Hinoki said as she took off down the hallway.  
  
Mr. Iwamoto and Mr. Akashi looked at one another and started to run after her. They continued to run until they reached the park.  
  
"Hold it Miss Koyotua. Who attacked you?" Iwamoto asked.  
  
"He's a new kid. I don't know his name. I've seen him with Yusuke Urameshi. Rumor is that he's Urameshi's cousin, sir."  
  
"So, Hiei has been picking on girls. He'll be expelled for sure. Don't worry Miss Koyotua. We'll take care of this cockroach."  
  
Iwamoto and Akashi ran to the fountain in the middle of the park. They found Angel facedown on the ground. Her uniform was in shreds and she had many shallow cuts on her skin.  
  
"Where is that cockroach? I'll make sure that he gets expelled and some," Iwamoto said.  
  
"He has to be around here somewhere." Akashi said as he looked around.  
  
"Are you looking for someone?" Hiei said from the tree above them.  
  
"Get down here Urameshi and I'll make this quick. Your actions are unacceptable and you will be expelled," Iwamoto said.  
  
"Oh I don't think so," Hiei said as he disappeared.  
  
"Where did he go?" Akashi said as he looked around.  
  
Neither Akashi nor Iwamoto saw the attack coming. Angel got off the ground and did a foot sweep to Iwamoto knocking him to the ground while Hiei hit Akashi with the hilt to his sword. Akashi fell to the ground unconscious and Iwamoto looked at the two of them in stunned surprise while Hiei held his sword to Iwamoto's throat.  
  
"You foolishly insulted me and made me look like a fool. That was your biggest mistake. I think it's time that the two of you get a taste of your own medicine. You're lucky you're going to walk away from this with your life," Hiei said as he also his Iwamoto with his sword hilt.  
  
"What now," Angel said as she looked at the two unconscious teachers.  
  
"Just follow my lead," Hiei said.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hiei, Angel, and Hinoki looked at their finished work. Iwamoto and Akashi were swinging, butt naked from a tree. Their hair had been shaved off and cloth had been put in their mouth to serve as a gag. Below them on a piece of paper, Hinoki had stated what kind of people the two teachers were and how they should be dealt with accordingly. Hiei smirked and turned to walk away.  
  
"Wait a second," Hinoki said "You owe us something. We have questions for you."  
  
"Don't worry. I haven't forgotten my end of the bargain. I currently have an errand that needs to be completed. This will not be the last time you see me. I'll be here until the end of your school term. I have a dare to complete," Hiei said as he disappeared.  
  
"He's a strange apparition," Angel said.  
  
"Yes, but at least we know why he's going to school. He has some sort of dare that he's trying to complete."  
  
"Men and their egos,"  
  
Hinoki smiled.  
  
"Come on Angel. Let's go home," she said as she turned to leave.  
  
Angel turned to follow her friend. Unbeknown to them, Hiei was watching them from the treetops. He smiled one of his rare smiles and left to return to Yusuke's home with great satisfaction.  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
Sorry so short guys. I'll update soon. Ja ne! 


	11. Busted

Author: CCD  
  
E-mail: Cruelseasons@yahoo.com  
  
Date last revised: February 22, 2004  
  
Date Story Published: June 14, 2003  
  
Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 11: Busted  
  
Author's Note: I've had a couple of questions from some reviewers. The first on was when I was going to add the girls to be Hiei's friends to the story. I've just have had writer's block for a little while and when the Dare kicks back up again the girls will come into the story. As for Angel and Hinoki, I'm not quite sure yet if I want them to be more than friends or not. I'm just going to take it one step at a time and work out the details with them later. Right now they're trying to figure out who Hiei is and why he's there. Anyway, I hope that answers all your questions. Enjoy!  
  
**************************************************************************** **  
  
Hiei walked into Yusuke's home with a smirk on his face. Yusuke only stared as he walked into the bedroom they shared and started working on his homework.  
  
"OK, what happened to the Hiei I know?"  
  
"Hn. Have you ever heard about being in a good mood, detective?"  
  
"Yeah, but that's the weird thing. You're never in a good mood."  
  
"I have, you've just never seen me in a good mood."  
  
Yusuke gave him a weird look. He left the room and went to go get the phone. He was going to call Kurama.  
  
"Hello," Kurama said.  
  
"Hey Kurama, it's Yusuke."  
  
"Hello, Yusuke."  
  
"Listen, Kurama. Hiei's been acting weird."  
  
"How so?"  
  
"He walked in with this grin on his face, went strait to his futon and started doing his homework. It's English homework might I add and he's in a good mood. Is this normal?"  
  
The other end went silent for a moment. He could hear Kurama's stepbrother talking to him in the background about something.  
  
"Yusuke, turn on the TV to Channel 13."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"You'll see."  
  
Yusuke turned on the TV and changed it to Channel 13.  
  
"We're here live at the Central Park, where two of Sarayashiki Jr. High teachers were found naked as the day they were born, beaten, and bruised. They were found tied and gagged in a tree. A list of charges against them were pinned above their heads. Both of the teachers were taken to the local hospital and are in stable condition."  
  
Yusuke turned off the TV. He knew who the teachers were even though they weren't named. It worried him.  
  
"Kurama, you don't think..."  
  
"Yes I do. He called off the bet so that he could get revenge. He's ruthless and felt that they made him look like a fool. You've seen Hiei do worse. We're lucky they weren't killed. I'll come and talk with him later."  
  
Yusuke knew Kurama was right. They said goodbye after setting up a time for Kurama to come over. After hanging up with Kurama, the phone rang.  
  
"Hell, Urameshi residence, Yusuke Urameshi speaking."  
  
"Urameshi, did you here about Akashi and Iwamoto?"  
  
"Yeah, and I know the person who did it."  
  
"Who?"  
  
"Who else you idiot?"  
  
"You mean..."  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Remind me to never get on Hiei's bad side," Kuwabara said as he hung up the phone.  
  
Yusuke looked at the phone, made a mental note to kick Kuwabara's ass, and place the phone back in it's cradle.  
  
After a few minutes, Keiko called.  
  
"Yusuke, we're in so much trouble."  
  
"Let me guess, you saw the news too."  
  
"Yusuke, was Hiei responsible?"  
  
"Yeah, Kurama's going to talk with him."  
  
"Yusuke, you need to talk with him. Have Kuwabara call off the dare permanently. This is dangerous."  
  
"I've already talked with him and Hiei won't let me call off the dare for him. There's nothing I can do. I don't control Hiei."  
  
"Please Yusuke. Be careful."  
  
"I will."  
  
They hung up the phone when a knock came on the door.  
  
Why can't people just leave me alone?  
  
He opened the door to see Boton standing there.  
  
"Yusuke, Koenma wants to see you and Hiei now."  
  
"What for?"  
  
"Hiei is in big trouble."  
  
**************************************************************************** ** 


	12. Sentencing

Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 12: Sentencing  
  
June 14, 2003  
  
By CCD  
  
Notes: I'm so sorry I've been taking to long to update and leaving you in suspense. I really hope this section makes up for it.  
  
************************************************************************  
  
"What in the heck did you think you were doing?" Koenma yelled.  
  
"Hn," Hiei replied.  
  
"Hiei, you know better than that. You're lucky they didn't die or I would have had to make Yusuke arrest you. What you did was equally unacceptable and will not be tolerated."  
  
"What are you going to do about it, sir?" Boton asked.  
  
"Hiei, you got yourself into this dare, so I'm going to make it so you can't bend or break the terms set between you and Kuwabara. I believe they were attending school, passing all your classes, and pretending to be a human while you're at it. Am I correct Yusuke?"  
  
"Yeah, but you still haven't explained what you're going to do."  
  
"By tomorrow morning, Hiei will no longer be able to do many of the things he can normally do."  
  
"Like what?"  
  
"His exceptional speed and agility, his Jagan, the Dragon of the Darkness Flame, and all of his other abilities will no longer be at his disposal."  
  
"Hn, I think you're bluffing. You can't just stop my abilities, but I'd like to see you try, Koenma," Hiei said.  
  
"You'll see Hiei. Hopefully this will teach you a lesson."  
  
Hiei didn't want to hear anymore. He started for the door.  
  
"Hiei, where are you going?" Yusuke asked.  
  
"I don't want to hear about this nonsense anymore. I'm leaving."  
  
With that Hiei disappeared in his typical fashion, just to show Koenma that he still had his abilities.  
  
"Koenma, sir, it sounds like a good idea, but how are you going to do it?" Boton asked.  
  
"This is where Yusuke comes in," he said as he pulled a purple pill from out of his pocket.  
  
"Great, you're going to drug him up, now. And I thought that was beneath you, Koenma," Yusuke said sarcastically.  
  
"This is known as a control pill. They are used in secret in the demon world to keep apparitions under control. This little baby packs a big punch when it comes to its affects on apparitions. This will take away the most powerful abilities for about six months."  
  
"So, that's what you're going to use to stop him," Boton said  
  
"Yusuke, I need you put this in a liquid of some kind and give it to Hiei. It dissolves in almost any liquid and is colorless and odorless, so Hiei won't suspect a thing. I'm warning you right now, Hiei will probably become quite ill tonight and won't be a very happy camper in the morning."  
  
"Hiei has never been a happy camper so I don't think there'll be a problem," Yusuke said.  
  
"Are you sure it will work, Koenma. His Dragon of the Darkness Flame technique is not easy to stop," Boton said.  
  
"I used this on an S-class demon who took it willingly. His abilities, even his most powerful ones were stopped. I'm not worried about how well the pill will work on Hiei. I'm more concerned on what he'll do to us when he gets his powers back."  
  
"We'll worry about it later. I'll make sure I take care of this Koenma. Just remember, you owe me for this and you owe me for what I'm getting ready to face tomorrow morning and what I'll face for the next six months," Yusuke said.  
  
"Good luck, Yusuke, and Godspeed."  
  
Yusuke and Boton exited Koenma's office and began they're journey back to the human world on Boton's ore. They landed in the middle of the school courtyard.  
  
"Yusuke, just be careful."  
  
"Don't worry Boton. I can handle Hiei."  
  
(I could be really cruel and end it right here, but since I haven't updated in a while I'm going to continue for your sake.)  
  
Boton flew off and Yusuke began his trek back to his apartment.  
  
How in the heck am I going to pull this off?  
  
Yusuke walked into his apartment and slipped off his shoes. He walked into the living room to see Hiei sleeping on the couch.  
  
Good, I can make dinner and put the pill in his drink.  
  
Yusuke quickly made some ramen noodles for dinner and got some water for them to drink since there was nothing else to drink in the house.  
  
I hope Koenma was right about this thing being colorless and odorless, if not I'm in deep shit.  
  
Yusuke dropped the pill in the water and watched as it dissolved in a matter of a few seconds. The drink looked like ordinary water and he couldn't smell anything.  
  
Great now to wake up Hiei and hope that this thing goes as planned.  
  
He went to the living room to wake the sleeping demon.  
  
"Hiei, dinner's ready. Get up and eat."  
  
Hiei opened one eye and looked at Yusuke.  
  
"I'm not hungry," he said  
  
"Hiei, we're both in irritable moods and I don't want to have to deal with this. Just come and eat."  
  
"No,"  
  
Yusuke was starting to become angry.  
  
"Hiei, if you don't come and eat now, I'll make sure Koenma makes true on his threat."  
  
"So, it was just a bluff."  
  
"Yeah, it was," Yusuke lied.  
  
"Fine, I'll be there in a minute."  
  
Yusuke went back into the kitchen and waited for Hiei. Hiei came in looked at the selected food and beverage.  
  
"We only had water and ramen noodles. I'll go shopping for more food tomorrow. School got canceled because of the uproar."  
  
"Hn,"  
  
The two of them ate in silence. Yusuke tried not to watch Hiei eat, so he wouldn't suspect anything. When he was done Hiei got up and left the room. Yusuke quickly finished and put his dishes in the sink. He went back to the table to collect Hiei's dishes and noticed Hiei's cup was empty.  
  
Good, he drank it all. Now we just have to wait.  
  
About an hour later, Hiei was in the bathroom throwing up what he had eaten earlier.  
  
"Hiei, are you Ok?" Yusuke asked.  
  
Hiei could only glare at Yusuke before his face was once again over the toilet. The doorbell rang a few minutes later. Yusuke left an unhappy Hiei and opened the door to reveal Kurama.  
  
"I forgot you said you were coming over later to talk to Hiei," Yusuke said.  
  
"Where is he at?"  
  
"Throwing his guts up. Koenma decided he needed a little taste of his own medicine."  
  
"What did you do?"  
  
"I'll explain later. I don't want him to hear."  
  
Yusuke led Kurama to the bathroom.  
  
"You can try talking to him, but I doubt he'll listen," Yusuke said.  
  
They entered the bathroom to see that Hiei was in the same position Yusuke left him.  
  
"Hiei, are you going to be all right?" Kurama asked.  
  
Hiei glared at both of them as if to say 'Do you think I'm all right?' before he got sick again. Yusuke and Kurama left the bathroom and shut the door behind them. They walked outside, so they could talk without Hiei listening to them.  
  
"Yusuke, it is unnatural for apparitions to get that sick. What did you do?"  
  
"I was just following orders. Koenma wanted me to give him this pill that will prevent him from using his powers. We'll just have to deal with a grouchy Hiei for the next six months."  
  
"Is this wise, though?"  
  
"Koenma compared what he did to Iwamoto and Akashi to the crime of anyone killing a human. We just have to wait it out. I guess that's all we can do."  
  
"But without his powers, Hiei will be in danger. There are many apparitions that wouldn't mind his head as a trophy."  
  
"I didn't think about that."  
  
"I thought you hadn't. We just have to be cautious and make sure Hiei remains safe at all cost. Since he is staying here, Yusuke, you'll have to be the one to lay down some law for his safety. Hiei will resist, but it's the only way."  
  
"I know he'll resist, but he's won't be in the position to give orders in the morning."  
  
"You have to explain what you did and hope that Hiei will listen. I'll call a meeting tomorrow at Genkai's. We can plan and try to make Hiei listen to us."  
  
Yusuke nodded and Kurama left. He went back inside and lay down on the couch.  
  
First thing's first, I'll have to survive the night with the sound of him puking all night long.  
  
************************************************************************ 


	13. Aftermath

Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 13: Aftermath  
  
June 14, 2003  
  
By CCD  
  
************************************************************************  
  
Yusuke woke the next morning to complete silence in the house. He got up and went to see where Hiei was. Yusuke walked strait into the bathroom to see Hiei sleeping with his head on the toilet seat. Shaking his head, Yusuke went to his bedroom and pulled out his detective tools from under the bed. As soon as he opened the case, Koenma appeared on the screen.  
  
"I trust things went well last night, Yusuke," he said.  
  
"Yeah, with the exception of me having to explain this to Kurama and falling asleep on the couch because he was puking, everything went fine. Why did he get sick anyway?"  
  
"The control pill slowly shuts down energy bit by bit. Because this is disturbing to the body, it often becomes ill as a kind of equilibrium for the energy loss. Normally, when one gets sick, one often loses Spirit energy; it goes both ways."  
  
"I think I get it."  
  
"Good, I forgot to tell you yesterday another one of the effects of the pill. It doesn't work for all apparitions, so I don't know if it'll have any effect on Hiei."  
  
"Well, what is it?"  
  
"It has been known to slightly change the appearance of apparitions to make them look more human-like."  
  
"Great, not only is Hiei going to have to deal with energy loss, he's going to possibly deal with looking different."  
  
"If he's changed, it occurred during the night, so when he wakes up you should take a good look at him and study the changes. I have one more thing to ask of you before I go. You are going to have to take off the bandages off of his arms and forehead to make him believe that this has actually occurred."  
  
"You mean as proof."  
  
"Yes, with his Jagan and his Black Dragon tattoo gone, he'll have no choice but to accept it. Go do it now before he wakes up."  
  
(I really don't know what to call that thing on his arm so I'll stick to tattoo. I believe he actually burned that into his arm or it's something he got by trying to control the dragon. If anyone has the real answer let me know.)  
  
Yusuke walked into the bathroom and very carefully took off the bandages. He threw them away and returned to Koenma.  
  
"They aren't really gone though are they?"  
  
"No his Jagan is sealed shut and the tattoo will reappear when he gets his powers back. He'll have to rely on your strength for a while."  
  
At this, Yusuke heard a groan come from the bathroom.  
  
"I'll take my leave now. Be careful Yusuke. The only thing he has left is his excellent sword skills, so expect a sword to your throat a couple of times. Tcho."  
  
(I found out that Tcho is Spanish. It's used more commonly in South America. My Spanish teacher who is from S.A. told me this.)  
  
Yusuke shoved his detective tools back under his bed, when the screen went blank. He got up and walked into the bathroom to see Hiei trying to get up. He noticed that Hiei's hare was no longer sticking strait up, but was now hanging down. It fell to his shoulders.  
  
Well, there's one change we'll have to get used to.  
  
"Are you OK, Hiei?"  
  
"If you ask that again detective, I promise you won't have vocal cords in the morning."  
  
That got Yusuke mad. He knew Hiei didn't have a great night and today was just going to suck big time, but he didn't need to have an attitude.  
  
"What got shoved up your ass this morning?"  
  
Hiei looked at him. Yusuke saw that Hiei was just as mad as he was.  
  
"What happened last night? Don't lie to me, detective. I know you played some role in this."  
  
"You know, since you decided to tick me off this morning, I'm not going to answer. You can figure this out all by yourself Hiei. Just remember, you got yourself into this mess."  
  
With that Yusuke left Hiei. He got dressed quickly and decided he needed to go relieve some of the tension in his system. This of course meant he was going to Kuwabara's house.  
  
"I'm leaving Hiei. I'll be back in a little bit," Yusuke yelled just before he slammed the door shut.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Hiei leaned against a wall in the bathroom. It had been a struggle just to stand up. He still felt sick and very weak.  
  
What in the hell is going on?  
  
He very slowly made his way over to the mirror. He looked and saw that his hair now hung limp, his face was pale, and his eyes were dull. He basically looked like shit. He then noticed that the band that normally covered his Jagan was gone and so was the Jagan.  
  
Hiei was starting to become afraid, which was very uncommon for him. He looked down on his arm and saw that his dragon was gone.  
  
"No, this can't be."  
  
Hiei backed away from the mirror. He couldn't believe what he saw. It had to be a trick. He backed out of the bathroom and tripped on the corner of his futon.  
  
He fell on top of the futon and buried his face into it. He didn't want to see anymore. His body told him that it needed more rest, but Hiei wasn't willing to believe that. He thought it was all a trick to scare him.  
  
He stood up and began to slowly walk towards the living room. His vision blurred and it became harder to walk with each step. Before he could step out of the door to the bedroom, Hiei collapsed unconscious on the floor.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
"I feel better," Yusuke said as he began to walk away from a badly beat up Kuwabara.  
  
He continued a little ways until he heard someone call out for him. He turned to see Kurama running towards him with Keiko and Kuwabara not that far behind.  
  
"What's up Kurama?"  
  
"Yusuke, where is Hiei?"  
  
"Still at the apartment,"  
  
"We have to get to the apartment. Something isn't right. How could you leave Hiei alone?"  
  
The four of them took off towards the apartment. They arrived to see Hiei collapsed on the floor.  
  
"What's wrong with shrimp?" Kuwabara asked.  
  
"We'll explain later; why did you leave him alone, Yusuke?" Kurama asked.  
  
"He pissed me off, that's why," Yusuke replied.  
  
Kurama studied Hiei's unconscious form.  
  
"He's lost a great deal of energy. We should let him rest for a while. He should be fine when he wakes up," Kurama said as he picked up Hiei.  
  
"Are you sure, Kurama? He really doesn't look that good," Keiko said.  
  
"He'll be fine. Yusuke you should explain what happened to them," Kurama said as he headed for the bedroom.  
  
Yusuke told them what Koenma had ordered him to do. Keiko listened quietly while Kuwabara interrupted every chance he got. Yusuke finished and looked at both of them, waiting for a response.  
  
"So basically, he can't break the rules of the dare and he has to be watched over at all times," Keiko said.  
  
"Yeah, it looks like I won't be able to skip anymore," Yusuke replied.  
  
"Hiei disserved this. If he had just left the teachers alone, and not let them mess with his ego he would be fine. Besides, Hiei didn't complete the dare," Kuwabara said.  
  
"Kuwabara, shut up and leave Hiei alone. He's had to deal with a lot lately and doesn't need to hear anything from you about some stupid dare. I'm also calling off our bet. I don't care if I have to swallow a million needles. I just want to find a way to make this easier on him."  
  
"What bet?" Keiko asked.  
  
"A stupid one, don't worry about it Keiko," Yusuke said.  
  
Kurama reentered the room. He looked sadly at the group.  
  
"He's awake and I explained everything to him. He isn't happy."  
  
"Is he going to be alright, Kurama?" Keiko asked.  
  
"He will after he rests and calms down. Be patient with him. Now all we can do is leave him alone. I would suggest us leaving and Yusuke I would suggest that you stay out of there for a little while."  
  
They nodded. Kurama gave quick instructions to Yusuke in case Hiei got any worse, and the three teens left. Yusuke sat on the couch and closed his eyes. It wasn't even noon, but it felt much later. Yusuke went to sleep himself knowing he would need it when Hiei woke up.  
  
************************************************************************ 


	14. The Cost to Pay the Price

**Hiei's Dare  
Chapter 14: The Cost to Pay the Price  
June 14, 2003  
By CCD  
  
Author's Note: I just want to clear up some misunderstandings about the control pill. I had a lot of questions about it so I figured I could just answer it all at once.  
  
First, only abilities in which Hiei uses Spirit Energy are gone. (Jagan is sealed; Dragon is dormant, etc...) He still has his sword skills. He also lost his speed, and enhanced traits. (hearing, sight, etc...)  
  
Second, Hiei only has 2 altered physical traits. The first is that his hair no longer sticks up like a flame. It falls down to his shoulders. (I had a dream about his hair like that and I thought it was cute).  
  
The second altered trait is that Hiei's starburst pattern in his hair is missing. (I did this cause since his hair hangs down his hair would look funny with the starburst in it.) I didn't change anything else about him. (Yes ladies, he still has his muscular body and his crimson colored eyes. I've always liked his eyes, so I didn't change the color.)**

****

****

**Yusuke woke up to his mother's drunk ranting. He sat up and looked at his mother who was in the kitchen drinking.  
  
****_Can't a guy get any sleep around here?  
_  
He walked into his bedroom and saw Hiei laying on his futon, asleep.  
  
I_ forgot he was resting in here. How can he stand to sleep with all the racket she's making_.  
  
Yusuke walked over to Hiei and put a hand on his forehead to see if he had a fever. Yusuke took the bowl next to his bed and filled it with cool water. He dipped a cloth in it, rung it out, and placed it on Hiei's forehead.  
  
Yusuke took the time to really look at Hiei. His hair framed his face and the starburst pattern was gone. Hiei's skin was pale from being sick. His face held a slight flush to it because of Hiei's fever.  
  
A light beeping noise came from the case Yusuke carried his detective items in. Yusuke opened it to reveal Koenma.  
  
"How is he?" Koenma asked.  
  
"Oh, I don't know, Koenma. How would you feel if you were betrayed, sick, and helpless? I wish I hadn't done what I did. If you saw him, you would feel like I did."  
  
"Yusuke, it had to be done. I knew Hiei would become ill. It's one of the side effects. He'll be better in a couple of hours."  
  
"He better get well. If he doesn't, I'm coming up to Spirit World and personally kicking your ass."  
  
"I understand this is difficult Yusuke, but you were the one who agreed to do this. Hiei had to learn his lesson. He injured two humans and broke a very important law. Let's just say he could have been punished much worse by my father and that he's lucky Spirit World intelligence can erase memories."  
  
"Was that all you called about pacifier bitch or is there more?"  
  
"I just wanted to reinstate some facts. You realize that Hiei is in no condition to fight. You cannot leave him by himself. If the need arises, I'll make sure that he can't leave your side. This is going to be your new case, Yusuke. You must keep Hiei safe at all times. Do you understand?"  
  
"Yeah I do. Don't worry."  
  
With that Yusuke closed the case to his detective items and looked at his unconscious friend.  
  
"I hate my job," he said**

****

****

****

**Hiei opened his eyes to the sound of running water. He winced as the sunlight shined in his eyes. It took his mind a minute to wake up and realize where he was. He had hoped that the whole dare had just been a bad dream.  
  
His eyes opened wide when he realized it wasn't a dream and what Kurama told him was true.  
  
_No, it can't be._  
  
He tried to sit up, but found himself to weak to do it.  
  
"Hiei what are you doing?" Yusuke asked as he stood in the bathroom doorway.  
  
"What does it look like I'm doing you traitor."  
  
Yusuke was hurt by the comment, but he knew he deserved it.  
  
"You should be resting."  
  
"I'll do what I want to do."  
  
Yusuke rubbed his forehead to relieve the oncoming headache.  
  
"Hiei, you're in no condition to argue, let alone sit up, and you won't be able to do what you want to do for the next six months."  
  
"Like you can stop me."  
  
"Hiei, Kurama told you what happened. You know you've lost most of your abilities. You won't be much of a match for me."  
  
Hiei scowled at him.  
  
"Hiei you screwed up big time. It's time you just pay the price for what you've done."  
  
"I won't accept it."  
  
Yusuke walked up to Hiei and pushed his body so that he was lying down again.  
  
"I'm sorry, Hiei. I'm only following orders. You and I are both going to go through hell in the next couple of months, but when it's over we won't have to go through it again."  
  
"Hn," Hiei said as he turned his head away.  
  
Yusuke stood up and started walking towards the living room.  
  
"Get some rest Hiei. You'll be able to get up in the morning and then we can go see pacifier bitch so you can kick his ass personally."  
  
With that he walked out of the room and left Hiei with his thoughts.**


	15. Explanations

Hiei's Dare  
Chapter 15: Explanations  
June 14, 2003  
By CCD  
  
Author's Note: All right you guys. Here's the deal. I've been having writer's block on every single one of my stories. If you have any suggestions feel free to let me know.  
  
As far as the friend thing goes, I want to apologize. I had a really good idea for it and I seem to have lost it. This story has taken an unexpected twist and I just don't think it's going to work out anymore. Thank you to all that applied. I will be keeping Angel and Hinoki. They will make an appearance very soon.  
  
I'm sorry for the lack of updates. If you wish this story or any of my other ones to continue, please, PLEASE, give me any suggestion no matter how stupid it sounds. You never know the crazier the idea the better this story might be. Thank you!

**Just to show what a ditz I am I now want to thank the 240 people who have read and reviewed this story. You rock!!!**  
  
"You better start talking, toddler," Hiei yelled in Koenma's face.  
  
Hiei had stayed in bed for a few days because of his reaction to the control pill. When he could get up and walk without fainting, he demanded to be taken to Koenma. Koenma's office was filled with tension as Botan, Yusuke, George the ogre watched Hiei demand and explanation from the Spirit World Prince.  
  
"Hiei, I gave you fair warning the last time you were in my office. This is your punishment for what you did to those two teachers. Do you realize how much trouble you caused when you and those girls did what you did?"  
  
"Do you realize how humiliating it is for me to have a human tell me what to do and not do anything about it?"  
  
Koenma sighed.  
  
"Hiei, I understand that what those teachers did was inappropriate, but given the circumstances, they thought that you were a human. It didn't help that your cover up story was that you were Yusuke's cousin. That let them point accusing fingers at you. You have been a criminal under Spirit World's watch for years now Hiei and I know you know better than to touch a human no matter what the circumstances."  
  
The room was silent. Hiei clenched his fists and stared at Koenma. He turned and walked out of the Toddler's office without speaking a word.  
  
"Well that was pleasant," Yusuke said hoping to end the tension in the room.  
  
"He will learn," Koenma said.  
  
"I hope you realize I'm not happy with you either, Koenma. After what Hiei went through the past couple of days, I'd say he's learned his lesson."  
  
"It wasn't my choice, Yusuke. My father was furious when he found out what Hiei did. He gave me the pill to teach Hiei a lesson. When he gets his powers back, my father is going to keep a tight leash on him. He'll most likely be kept in Spirit World and warded for a while."  
  
"You can't do anything."  
  
"No, I can't, but Hiei can."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You can't tell Hiei this because he has to do this on his own. Hiei's powers will return if he does a good deed that requires him to risk his own life for the safety of another."  
  
"You mean like I did when I died."  
  
"Yes, except that Hiei won't die. My father will save his life and the life of whoever he saves as long as he attempts to do the good deed. He will also erase this little incident with the teachers from his file and he'll be free once again."  
  
"Do you think Hiei will actually do something like that Koenma?" Boton asked.  
  
"I honestly don't know. His file says that he won't do anything of the sorts, but then again Yusuke surprised us so I wouldn't be surprised if Hiei surprised us."  
  
"Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence Koenma," Yusuke said as he turned to head out the door.  
  
"Where are you going Yusuke?" Koenma asked.  
  
"I'm heading home. There's no point in staying here if you have nothing left to tell me. Besides you want me to watch Hiei don't you. I don['t know if you noticed but he's not exactly in the room."  
  
Koenma's face paled.  
  
"You're right, Yusuke. Just be careful and notify me immediately if he gets into any more trouble."  
  
Yusuke nodded and left with Boton behind him. They walked passed the mass of ogres and towards the throat-like hallway. Hiei stood off to the side. Despite the scowl on his face he appeared to be very calm and in control of his temper.  
  
"Come on Hiei. Pacifier bitch didn't have anything intelligent left to say."  
  
Hiei said nothing as he followed Yusuke and Boton out the door. Boton took the two of them back to the Human World and landed outside of Yusuke's apartment. Hiei walked up the stairs without acknowledging Yusuke or Boton.  
  
"Be careful, Yusuke. I have this feeling Hiei is in a really bad mood. Who knows what he'll do."  
  
"Don't worry, Boton," Yusuke said sadly, "He isn't going to be hurting anyone, anytime soon."  
  
Boton nodded and left. Yusuke walked up the stairs and to his apartment. Hiei was there leaning against the wall.  
  
"Why didn't you go in?"  
  
"Locked," Hiei snapped.  
  
Yusuke simply looked at him.  
  
"You know what Hiei, if you're going to be stuck without your powers for a while; you might not want to tick me off."  
  
Yusuke unlocked the door and walked into the apartment with Hiei right behind him. He plopped down on the couch and started to read some of his Manga. Hiei went into the bedroom and closed the door. Yusuke paid no attention to sound of the wall getting punched. He knew Hiei was mad at everyone and everything at that moment.  
  
I guess I'll be sleeping out here tonight.

Hiei slowly pulled his hand away from the wall. It was starting to go numb, but he didn't care. He just wished that he was hitting Koenma's face instead of a wall. Despite the fact he appeared calm on the outside, on the inside he was full of turmoil.  
  
"How dare he do this to me," Hiei mumbled before plopping onto his futon.  
  
He had so much hate and anger on the inside that he didn't know what to do with it all. Hiei felt like he was getting eaten from the inside out. He fell back so that he could lay on top of his futon and think.  
  
"What am I going to do now?" he asked himself aloud.  
  
Hiei simply lay there and thought about his different options. He didn't like any of them at all. Fatigue slowly started to seep in and he found himself falling asleep. He tried to shake himself awake, but he knew it was of no use.  
  
"Stupid humans and there need for sleep," he muttered before falling into a deep sleep.

Yusuke snuck into the bedroom and saw that Hiei had fallen asleep.  
  
Poor guy, must have worn himself out.  
  
Yusuke noticed that Hiei was shivering.  
  
Oh no, he just got over being sick.  
  
Yusuke quickly covered him with a blanket and got ready for bed. He crawled into his own bed and fell asleep.


	16. Adjusting

Hiei's Dare  
  
Chapter 16 Adjusting  
  
June 14, 2003  
  
By CCD  
  
Sorry this is so short guys; I have bigger plans on my next chapter. I broke my writer's block YAY! Anyway I hope you enjoy!  
  
BTW, I wanted to thank StormAZ for getting me back on track with this story. You're review helped and I took it to heart. I hope you enjoy you're idea and I'll do a little bit more with it next chapter

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hiei woke up to feel nothing but cold. It was early in the morning and the sun wasn't up to warm the air. He shivered and pulled the blanket wrapped around him tighter. He was starting to miss being a demon.  
  
"Koenma and his stupid laws," he muttered through chattering teeth.  
  
Hiei was so used to his body automatically adjusting to cold temperature that he was miserable. He turned over before continuing his muttering.  
  
"Just wait, Koenma. I will kill you when this is all over."  
  
Suddenly he felt something land on top of the other blanket. He sat up in alarm only to see a heavier blanket on top of him. He turned to see Yusuke.  
  
"You know you'll wake my mom if you're any louder. If you're that cold you just need to get another blanket."  
  
Hiei sat there with his eyes wide. He hadn't heard Yusuke move at all. He was brought back to his senses when Yusuke waved a hand in front of his face.  
  
"Earth to Hiei. Come back Hiei. Are you listening to me?"  
  
"Hn."  
  
"There's the Hiei I know. Anyway if you need anything feel free to wake me up."  
  
With that Yusuke crawled back into his bed and lay down.  
  
"Goodnight Hiei"  
  
"Hn."  
  
Hiei didn't move until he heard the sound of Yusuke's snores. He laid down himself and pulled both blankets up over his head. He sighed, as he felt warm in his little cocoon. He fell back asleep easily now satisfied with the fact he was warm.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yusuke woke up much later to nothing but quiet. It felt eerie since he expected either Hiei or his mother to be up. He looked down at the floor to see the blankets folded on the futon. Hiei was no where in sight. Neither was his sword.  
  
Great, where did he go?  
  
Yusuke quickly got dressed and walked to the living room. Hiei wasn't there either.  
  
Ok, so he's not here. Well I better find him before Koenma finds out and decides that I'm his next victim.  
  
Yusuke left his apartment and made his way towards Kurama's house. It was the first place on his list of places Hiei might go. He knocked on the door. Shiori answered.  
  
"Hello Yusuke," she said as she smiled.  
  
"Um... Hi," he replied hesitantly.  
  
"Suichi is in his room. I believe you know the way."  
  
"Thanks," he said as he ran up the stairs to Kurama's room.  
  
Yusuke knocked and Kurama opened the door.  
  
"Hello Yusuke."  
  
"Hey, is Hiei here with you."  
  
"No, I haven't seen him at all lately."  
  
"He left this morning and I don't have a single clue as to where he went. Do you have any ideas?"  
  
"When Hiei doesn't want to be found it is difficult to find him. I will come with you and help you search though."  
  
Yusuke nodded and the two of them walked downstairs. Kurama yelled that he was leaving and they walked out the door and started off towards Kuwabara's house. Hinoki and Angel watched Yusuke and Kurama run down the street.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  
  
"Where are they going in such a hurry?" Angel asked.  
  
"How should I know," Hinoki replied coldly.  
  
"I'm starting to get a little worried Hinoki."  
  
"About what."  
  
"Not what, it's who. Hiei hasn't been coming to school and neither has Urameshi. They haven't come since we attached Akashi and Iwamoto."  
  
"And..."  
  
"Something's wrong."  
  
"Well, duh, Angel. Of course something is wrong, but we don't have to be sticking our faces in it. Hiei is a big boy and he can take care of himself."  
  
Angel sighed.  
  
"I know. I just wish I knew what was going on."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yusuke and Kurama reached Kuwabara's house in record timing. His older sister, Shizuru was standing on the porch smoking a cigarette.  
  
"Hey Shizuru, is your brother around?" Yusuke asked.  
  
She exhaled before answering.  
  
"No, he left earlier this morning with Hiei. Something about insults and Genkai's temple."  
  
The two boys looked at each other.  
  
"Thanks Shizuru that's just what we needed," Yusuke yelled before they started off towards Genkai's temple.  
  
When they arrived they heard Kuwabara's frustrated yells. They ran in to see Kuwabara covered in shallow cuts with his Spirit Sword in hand. Across from him was Hiei with a very smug look on his face. He also had his sword in hand.  
  
"Hiei, what are you doing?" Yusuke yelled.  
  
"Exercising the little bit of power I have left," he replied calmly as he sheaved his sword and walked towards Yusuke and Kurama.  
  
"Shrimp, I'm not done with you yet," Kuwabara yelled.  
  
"Save it Kuwabara. I don't want to hear it," Yusuke said.  
  
He then turned his attention to Hiei. He was sitting near the door with his back against the wall. A smug grin crossed his face.  
  
Why couldn't Koenma take his sword skills away too.  
  
"Come on Hiei we're leaving," Yusuke said.  
  
"And where exactly are we going?"  
  
"Back to my apartment. I have a bone to pick with you," he replied while turning to Kurama, "Thanks for the help, Kurama. Could you make sure he gets home in one piece."  
  
Yusuke pointed his finger at Kuwabara. Kurama nodded and then he turned to leave with Hiei behind him. When they had gotten down the temple steps Yusuke decided it was time to get Hiei to start talking.  
  
"Ok, Hiei, what the hell were you thinking leaving the apartment without me?"  
  
"I didn't think I needed your permission to do anything. As far as I'm concerned, Koenma and you can go to Limbo and not come out again."  
  
"Look, Hiei. You think I wanted to do what I did. I mean come on, you're my team mate."  
  
"Hn, some team mate."  
  
"Koenma has me in a tight spot too you know. I had no choice but to do it. I think it would be best if we just both set aside our pride and deal with each other."  
  
"And why would I want to do that?"  
  
"Let's just put it this way, Hiei. If you continue to gripe and complain about this, Koenma will think he's won. If you just let it go and adjust to everything, then the next six months will go smoother and Koenma won't be so cocky.  
  
Hiei didn't say anything. He was deep in thought over what Yusuke said. After a few minutes he spoke up.  
  
"So what you're saying is that if I were to act and think like a human would and get used to it that Koenma won't have anything to gloat about."  
  
Yusuke nodded and Hiei smiled for the first time since the ordeal began.  
  
"Then that's just what I'll have to do."


	17. You Can Never Go Back

_Hiei's Dare_

Chapter 17: You Can Never Go Back

June 14, 2003

By CCD

Yusuke looked behind him to make sure Hiei was following him to school. Despite the fact Hiei said he was going to try to act like a human, it didn't really show. Hiei had complained about going back to school. It was their first day back since the incident with Iwamoto and Akashi, and he was nervous about school and Hiei's reaction.

He sighed when he saw Hiei following him. He was looking down at the textbook in his hand. Yusuke smiled and held back a laugh as Hiei brought his hand up and brushed his long black hair behind his ear so it wasn't in his face.

"Why don't you just tie your hair back?" Yusuke asked.

Hiei growled back and looked up at Yusuke.

"Why don't you keep your mouth shut and leave me alone. I'm following you to school, so you don't have to keep looking behind you to make sure I'm there."

"I didn't say anything about you not following me. I was asking you why you just didn't tie your hair back."

"Hn,"

Yusuke knew that was all he was going to get out of Hiei. When they reached the school Kuwabara and Keiko were waiting for them outside. Yusuke stopped; he knew Hiei wasn't in the mood to talk to anybody.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Keiko saw the unhappy look on Yusuke's face. She knew he didn't want them there. She grabbed Kuwabara's arm and dragged him inside and behind the stairs so they were out of sight.

"What's wrong, Keiko?" Kuwabara asked.

"Yusuke doesn't want Hiei to see us. He must be in a bad mood."

After she said this, Hiei walked by the stairs and into their first class. Yusuke came around the corner and walked to where they were standing.

"Thanks Keiko. He would have thrown a fit if he would've had to walk past you guys. He's not in a good mood."

"Is it really that bad, Yusuke?" she asked.

"Yeah, he fights with me about everything. I tries to act like nothing is bothering him, but it doesn't work. It's like he's mad at the world and everything in it."

Keiko and Kuwabara were silent. Yusuke continued to talk.

"This morning I tried to get him up for school and he fought with me then. On the way to school I saw him pull his hair out of his face and when I asked him why he didn't pull it back, he blew up on me then. Just do me a favor, will you?"

They both nodded and waited to hear Yusuke's favor.

"Don't talk to him or touch him. I don't need him blowing up on me any more. As it is, I'm on his ass kick list for when he gets his powers back."

They nodded again and went to their first classes.

Yusuke walked into his class and saw Hiei sitting at his desk. He was still reading his textbook. Yusuke sat down in his desk next to Hiei, but he didn't say a word. They were in their English class and the last thing Yusuke wanted to do was stir up things.

"Hey Urameshi," Kuwabara's friend Komada yelled.

"What?" Yusuke replied knowing that Komada was talking to him and not to Hiei.

"Did you hear about, Iwamoto and Akashi?"

Yusuke felt his face pale. This was exactly what he didn't want. He turned to look at Hiei, but he wasn't there. In fact, Hiei wasn't in the room.

"Yeah, I did. I can't talk right now. I've got to go find my cousin."

With that, Yusuke took off to look for Hiei. After a few minutes of looking, Mr. Takanaka stopped him.

"Yusuke, aren't you suppose to be in class?"

"Yeah, but I'm looking for my cousin. He came to school today, but he wasn't feeling well. He disappeared right before class started, so I just want to make sure he's okay."

"I'm sure he'll be fine, Yusuke. You're cousin doesn't seem like the type of person that needs checking up on. Go back to class."

"But..."

"Now, Yusuke"

Yusuke wasn't one to back down from a teacher, but there was no way Takanaka was going to let him search for Hiei. He slowly began his walk back to his English class.

_When I find Hiei, he's going to be in deep trouble._

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Hiei stood on the roof of the school. He wanted to be alone and someplace high so he could think. Kuwabara's friend and everyone else in his hearing range were talking about Iwamoto and Akashi. He didn't want to hear it at all.

Hiei knew Yusuke would be looking for him. When he heard the roof door open, he expected to hear Yusuke yell at him. Instead, he heard nothing. He turned around to see Angel and Hinoki behind him.

"Go away, I'm not in the mood to talk."

"Well, we're in the mood to listen. You've been avoiding us and school since we attacked..." Hinoki said before she was cut off.

"Say their names and I swear I will kill you."

"What's gotten into you?"

"I'm surprised the two of you haven't noticed."

"Your energy is gone. We've noticed and Hinoki wanted to confront you about it," Angel spoke up.

The girls were silent as they waited to see if Hiei would give them an explanation.

"Spirit World's lackeys have been keeping their eyes on me. They saw what we did to those two fools and Koenma decided to take matters into his own hands. That's all you need to know."

"So you're being punished," Hinoki said.

Hiei didn't answer. He just looked out at the city.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said finally.

"We'll we still want an explanation as to why your in the Human World and going to school?" Angel asked.

"Hn,"

"I take it that's a touchy subject to," Hinoki said.

"It is now, but since I made an agreement with you I guess I'll tell you."

Hiei explained everything from Kuwabara's dare to what happened to him. As he explained, he realized there where a lot of unanswered questions that he hadn't thought about asking.

"So basically you're stuck like that for the next six months," Hinoki said.

Hiei didn't answer her.

"You know, you'll never go back to the way you were," Angel said

Hiei looked at her.

"What's that suppose to mean?" He asked.

"It's for me to know and for you to find out," she said as she stood, "We can go our separate ways now that you've fulfilled your half of the bargain. Let's go, Hinoki."

The girls left. Hiei let them go. He wanted to be alone again; he had so many unanswered questions. The school bell rang signaling the end of another day at school. Hiei walked down the stairs and right into an angry Yusuke.

"Where have you been?"

"Hn, none of your business."

Hiei walked past Yusuke and headed out the doors of the school. He knew Yusuke was right behind him. When they reached the appartment, Hiei threw his school stuff down and walked back to the door.

"Where are you going, Hiei?"

"I'm going to Kurama's. You don't have to follow me I'll get there safely on my own."

With that, Hiei slammed the front door shut and left a stunned Yusuke standing there wondering what his problem was.


	18. Hiei's Mistake and Yusuke's Sacrifice

_Hiei's Dare_

Chapter 18: Hiei's Mistake and Yusuke's Sacrifice

June 14, 2003

By CCD

****

Hiei didn't go to Kurama's house; he had told Yusuke that so that he wouldn't be followed. Instead he decided to just walk, walk to wherever his feet were willing to take him. Although he appeared calm on the outside, on the inside he was a mess. Hiei couldn't describe the feelings welded up inside of him.

Hiei soon found himself in the park. He always seemed to come here, especially since it was where he slept before he had accepted the dare. He sat down under the tree he normally slept in and brought his knees to his chest.

Hiei thought about what had happened within a few short weeks that seemed to drag on. He had felt proud when he had accepted Kuwabara's dare. It was a chance for him to prove that he could do the things simple humans could do. It was nothing to him at the time, but what he didn't know at that time was that it would bring him nothing but misery.

Everything from unwanted emotions, to insulting teachers, and actually being human were thoughts constantly running through his mind. Thoughts that plagued his very soul with unanswered questions. He sat underneath the tree for a while until he heard something snap behind him. 

He looked up only to see something quickly come at him. Hiei dogged it the best he could, but it was of no use. He winced in pain as he looked down at the four deep scratches on his chest. Quickly he looked up to see four demons there. They were smiling. Hiei heard another snap behind him, but before he could react he felt a sharp pain in the back of his neck and fell to the ground unconscious.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Yusuke shot up from bed; he knew something wasn't right. He looked down at the futon to see that Hiei wasn't there. After getting out of bed, he ran to his phone and called Kurama's cell phone number. He prayed that it was turned on and near Kurama.

"Hello," a sleepy voice came from the other end.

"Ok, I take it Hiei isn't with you," Yusuke said out of the blue.

A dead silence was shared between the two fighters.

"Yusuke, where is Hiei?" Kurama asked knowing he was not at the detective's home.

"He said he was going to your house and I trusted him to actually go there. He was in a bad mood and I wasn't in the mood to argue with him."

"Yusuke, we must find him. I have a feeling that Hiei is in trouble."

"I kinda figured that out."

"This is no time to be sarcastic, Yusuke. We must find him. I'll check this end of the city. You search your end and make sure you check the park. Hiei used to go there to sleep, we'll meet again in two hours at your apartment. If we haven't found him by then, we might have to enlist Koenma's aid."

"That's the last thing I want to do. I'll see you in two hours."

With that Yusuke ran out of his house, grateful that he had fallen asleep in his school uniform.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

The two hours were almost up and Yusuke still hadn't found Hiei. He was making his way back to his apartment when he saw the park in view. Remembering Kurama's warning, he ran as fast as he could towards it. After searching every nook and cranny of the park, he was about to give up when he heard laughter.

Yusuke sped off towards the laughter. He saw some low-level demons standing near a tree. They were talking loud on how they would cook and eat their prey. Yusuke couldn't see their so-called prey, but whoever it was, he wasn't going to let him or her be eaten by trash.

"Evening gentlemen, I hope you don't mind me stepping in on your dinner," Yusuke said as he came out from hiding.

They all turned their attention to him.

"Look brother, we have more food," one of the demons said.

"Yes, let's get him," another said.

They all nodded and started to charge at him. Yusuke smirked.

"Shotgun," he yelled as he brought a fist forward.

The demons fell to the floor.

"That was too easy. I feel better."

Yusuke began to walk over to the unconscious body. When Yusuke realized it was Hiei, he ran over to him and checked his vitals. Seeing that Hiei was still alive he picked him up and ran all the way back to his apartment.

888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888888

Hiei shot up out of bed and winced in pain. His chest and head hurt. He felt a hand place on his shoulder and turned to see Kurama and Yusuke.

"How are you feeling?" Kurama asked.

"I think you already know."

"You gave us both a scare last night Hiei. You know your not suppose..." Kurama started to say, but Hiei cut him off.

"I don't want to hear your lecturing Kurama."

"Shut up, Hiei" Yusuke snapped.

Hiei and Kurama both looked at him.

"Do you realize that had I been in the park only a few minutes later that you would probably be dead? Do you realize how much you made Kurama and I worry with your little lying and disappearing act? Do you know how much trouble I would be in if you had died under my watch or how stupid you were to leave without me when you know you've lost you're powers?"

Yusuke had started to yell. He was mad and wanted Hiei to know that.

"Do you realize that had you had died, the sacrifices I've made for you wouldn't have mattered? Do you realize that I've even made sacrifices to let you stay here and be protected? Do you even realize that I hate Koenma right now because of what he is doing to us? And I do say us because I'm suffering too. Do you realize how sorry I am for doing that to you, betraying you and your trust? I honestly wonder if you do Hiei, cause you certainly don't act like it."

Kurama stared in a stunned silence, while Hiei turned away and clenched his blanket.

"You said you were going to start acting like a human to save yourself from suffering Hiei. I don't see it happening and I am not going to put up with your attitude any longer. I realize that your not happy, Hiei and..."

"You know nothing," Hiei said coldly.

Kurama and Yusuke looked at Hiei who was trembling and clenching his blanket.

"You don't know what I've gone through, what it's been like for me since that dare. You only see what you want to see and the obvious things, but you don't see everything. I don't want to be here, I don't want to complete this dare, and I don't want to become a human. I regret ever saying I would try. I was..." Hiei trailed off.

Kurama and Yusuke didn't know what to say. Neither one of them had ever seen Hiei like this. It was almost painful to watch him. Kurama turned to Yusuke.

"I don't think he's going to be too much trouble for the next couple of days. I'm going to leave now and I will call later this week to see how he is doing. If he's any trouble, call me and I'll talk to him."

With that Kurama left the room. To Yusuke, he seemed a little frustrated and angry. Yusuke turned his attention back to Hiei. He was still clenching the blanket but his trembling had stopped. Yusuke got up from his chair and sat on the edge of his bed.

"Hiei, Kurama and I are trying to make this easier, but if we don't know what's going on, then how in the heck are we going to do that?"

Hiei didn't say anything. Yusuke was starting to get angry again when he noticed something fall from Hiei's face. Hiei was crying. Yusuke got off the bed.

"Gets some rest Hiei. We'll talk some more in the morning."

With that he walked out of his bedroom and shut the door. He was glad that he had the couch to sleep on since Hiei was in his bed and Yusuke wanted to give him some time alone to calm down. He jumped on the couch and turned on the TV to watch some early morning Anime before he ended up falling asleep himself.


	19. Hiei’s Withdraw, Kuwabara’s Lesson, and ...

_**Hiei's Dare  
**_**Chapter 19: Hiei's Withdraw, Kuwabara's Lesson, and Yusuke's Apology  
****June 14, 2003  
****By CCD**

**Authors Notes: I just wanted to apologize ahead of time for all my characters being a little OC in this chapter. I thing I needed to right this way cause I've been kinda down lately. Anyway, I'm sorry that it took so long to update and I wanted to thank Lady Abaly for her e-mail. Anyway I won't keep you any longer. Enjoy!!**

**Yusuke looked at the school and sighed. He was alone for the fifth time that week. Hiei was refusing to get out of bed and go to school. They butted heads on more than one occasion, but today he hadn't said a word to Yusuke. He just laid in bed and stared at the wall.**

**$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Flashback$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$**

"**Hiei, get up you're coming to school today whether you want to or not," Yusuke yelled down at the blanket-covered heap on the floor.**

**He walked into the bathroom and threw on his green school uniform and walked back out to see that Hiei hadn't moved. He sighed and yanked the blankets off of him. Hiei was awake, but didn't acknowledge what the detective had done.**

"**Hiei get up now!"**

**Yusuke pushed him over, but Hiei simply moved back to how he was and looked at the wall.**

"**Hiei, I'm not going to say this again. Your starting to freak me out, so get up and come with me now!" Yusuke yelled, but he never received a response.**

**Yusuke ignored those who were running away from him. He wasn't worried about it. Hiei's condition was a more important matter. Yusuke went strait up the stairs to the roof. He opened his bag and took out his communications mirror. After opening it Botan's face filled the screen.**

"**Yusuke, I never thought you would use this thing again. After all you did say it looked like make-up…"**

"**Shut up, Botan. I don't have time for this."**

"**Oh dear, what's wrong now?"**

"**Nothing, I need to talk to pacifier junkie, so could you pick me up and take me to Spirit World before I go AWOL."  
**

"**All right Yusuke. I'll be there in a few minutes."**

**Yusuke sat down by the door and closed his eyes. Koenma was going to have to do something or Hiei just wouldn't be Hiei anymore. The roof door opened and slammed strait into him.**

"**Urameshi, where are you? Keiko said she was tired of looking for you so…"**

**The door was slammed back in the other direction, sending Kuwabara back through the doorway. Yusuke jumped up and out of the way of the door as it came crashing back.**

"**Urameshi, what did you go and do that for?"**

**"You slammed it right into me. Don't you know not to slam doors all the way back and crush people."**

"**Well, you shouldn't have been behind the door."**

**"Ok, and that's the round," Botan said breaking the boys up from their argument.**

"**Urameshi, what's Botan doing here."**

"**I need to go to Spirit World and take care of something. Tell Keiko, I'll be at school tomorrow. I may even have Hiei with me."**

"**Is that's what all this is about," Kuwabara asked.**

"**It's none of your business."**

"**I think it's time we go Yusuke. Koenma is waiting for you."**

"**I'm coming."**

**With that, Yusuke climbed onto the back of Botan's oar and they were off to Spirit World. Kuwabara stayed on the roof until they were out of sight, before going back to class. He called Keiko out into the hallway.**

"**What is it Kuwabara?"**

"**Come on, we're going to Genkai's. I have a feeling something's not right with Hiei. Maybe she has an answer."**

"**But what about class."**

"**Keiko, this is more important."**

"**All right, I guess it wouldn't hurt to skip for just one day."**

**Kuwabara nodded and the two of them left to go find Genkai.**

**Papers flew everywhere as Koenma pounded on the desk.**

"**What do you mean he's not doing well?" Koenma yelled out.**

"**It's just what I said. He won't talk and just lies in bed, staring at the wall. It's like he's a zombie. He's been like that since we had that incident in the park. I yelled at him."**

**$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$Flashback$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$**

"**Do you realize that had I been in the park only a few minutes later that you would probably be dead? Do you realize how much you made Kurama and I worry with your little lying and disappearing act? Do you know how much trouble I would be in if you had died under my watch or how stupid you were to leave without me when you know you've lost you're powers?"**

"**Do you realize that had you had died, the sacrifices I've made for you wouldn't have mattered? Do you realize that I've even made sacrifices to let you stay here and be protected? Do you even realize that I hate Koenma right now because of what he is doing to us? And I do say us because I'm suffering too. Do you realize how sorry I am for doing that to you, betraying you and your trust? I honestly wonder if you do Hiei, cause you certainly don't act like it."**

"**You said you were going to start acting like a human to save yourself from suffering Hiei. I don't see it happening and I am not going to put up with your attitude any longer. I realize that your not happy, Hiei and…"**

"**You know nothing," Hiei said coldly.**

"**After that he broke down and started yelling back."**

"**Hiei's going through a phase of realization. He could have died had you not stepped in. Without control over his life, Hiei feels useless and unwanted. This is why he won't respond. Demons who feel worthless don't associate with those of power and control. You're a symbol of power to him and he doesn't want to see that so he's shut himself down."**

"**So basically what you're saying is that he needs a good kick in the ass."**

"**Maybe, I don't know. Every demon Spirit World has come across snaps out of it differently. Try some things and coax him out of it. If giving him that kick doesn't work why don't you try bringing Kuwabara over. Hiei might not step down to his stupidity."**

"**What if they don't work?"**

**Koenma sighed before continuing.**

"**If they don't work. Spirit World will have to take him into custody."**

"**What?"**

"**My father wouldn't want an unstable demon in the Living World. He's already asked me to take him into custody, but I've assured him that he's in good hands with you. If I can't prove that, I wouldn't be surprised to see my father's armies at your door to take him away."**

"**That's real cheerful. Give me a week Koenma. If I haven't cured him by then, I'll bring him here myself."**

**With that, Yusuke walked out of Koenma's office to where Botan was standing.**

"**Are you ready to return?"**

"**Yeah, take me strait to my apartment, Botan."**

**The two of them took off and within minutes they were outside Yusuke's apartment. Yelling could be heard inside so the two of them ran in to see an outrageous sight. Kuwabara had Hiei, by a shirt and was yelling in his face. Keiko and Genkai were in the corner of the room watching the scene.**

"**You're such a pompous ass. Hiei, you're lying there feeling sorry for yourself when you should be up here with the rest of us. Your not a man anymore," Kuwabara yelled.**

"**What do I have left? I'm a worthless human with no Spirit Energy and barely any strength to pull my weight. Yusuke should have let those demons have me. At least that would have been honorable," Hiei said quietly.**

"**Because real me help when they're needed. I've been knocked on my ass one to many times by you and I'm not going to let you lose your mind just because you've lost all your powers. You'll get them back one day and then I want to fight you and win."**

"**Then of what worth would I be."**

"**Don't you have family Hiei. What would they say if they saw you like this?"**

"**How should I know? My family is dead and wouldn't want me if I was living."**

"**That's what you don't get Hiei. You do have a family. It's us and whether you want us to be or not, you're going to have to put up with us."**

**Hiei didn't reply. Kuwabara dropped him onto Yusuke's bed and looked up.**

"**He's all yours, Urameshi. Take care of him."**

**With that, Kuwabara and the women left. After the door shut. Yusuke looked at Hiei. Hiei had brought his knees up and place his head down on top of it.**

"**Hiei…"**

"**Save it, detective," Hiei said with his voice muffled by fabric.**

"**No, Hiei. I'm sorry about yelling at you last week. I should pay more attention as to what's going on in your life."**

**Yusuke walked over to the window and looked out before continuing.**

"**That night, I was scared when we couldn't find you. I thought you were dead somewhere."**

**Hiei looked up at Yusuke.**

"**When I realized how close you had gotten to death, I was angry at myself for not being able to pull my weight and protect you. So what did I go and do. Blame it on you for being careless. It's always been the way I am."**

**Yusuke sighed.**

"**I always admired you for pulling your own weight and saving everyone else's hides, even mine at times. You were always loyal and dedicated to fighting. I think I was just as angry as you were where when I realized the effects of that pill on you. At first I did it 'cause it was my job, but I regret it more and more every day. I don't do this thing very often, but I'm telling you now Hiei…"**

**He turned to look him in the eye before continuing.**

"…**Snap out of it."**


	20. Reawakening

_Hiei's Dare  
_Chapter 20: Reawakening  
June 14, 2003  
By CCD

Yusuke yawned as he walked to school. He had gotten a phone call from Keiko nagging at him. He hadn't slept well that night because he was concerned about Hiei. When he went back into the bedroom he woke Hiei up and told him that they were both going to school whether they both wanted to or not. Hiei didn't say anything, but he got up and found his uniform while Yusuke got into the shower.

At the thought, Yusuke looked down at Hiei. Hiei's face was covered by his hair. He was looking down at the ground as they walked. Yusuke turned to look at the road ahead. It was a miracle in itself that Hiei was going to school.

Yusuke dared not to say anything that morning. He felt that they had reached a truce. It was fragile though and Yusuke didn't want to do anything to break it. When they reached the school building, Hiei stopped.

"What's wrong, Hiei?" Yusuke asked.

Hiei didn't reply. He simply took a deep breath and walked past Yusuke into the school.

_Something's not right. Hiei wouldn't normally stop like that. Could he be scared about going back to school?_

Yusuke followed Hiei into the school and got nothing but stares. He didn't mind it so much since he was always the first person people would run away from but he noticed they were also looking at Hiei in the same way. Yusuke couldn't tell whether Hiei noticed that he was getting all the attention or not.

They both walked into the classroom to see that Keiko, Kuwabara, and Kuwabara's friends were already in the room. Keiko looked up and smiled.

"Yusuke, Hiei you came," she said in surprise.

Neither boy said anything. Hiei went to his seat and pulled out his English book and started to read. The bell rang. The students filed in as well as substitute teacher. She started to take role, and paused when he realized that both Yusuke and Hiei were there.

"Well, it's seems that both of our Mr. Urameshis have returned. Mr. Takenaka has asked that you both be sent to his office upon your return. He need to speak with both of you."

Yusuke and Hiei silently did as they were told. A few minutes later, Mr. Takenaka came out of his office and ushered both boys inside.

"Where have the two of you been? Both of you are on the borderline of expulsion for your absences. Unless you have a good excuse for your absences I'll have no choice but to insist counciling for the both of you."

Yusuke opened his mouth to speak but was cut off by the sound of Hiei's voice.

"I've been ill lately and Yusuke has stayed home to take care of me."

Yusuke was dumbfounded. He hadn't heard the sound of Hiei's voice for days and here he was defending him.

"Is this true, Yusuke."

Yusuke nodded because he couldn't find his voice.

"Very well then, I'll reprieve both of you since illness cannot be helped. I also understand Yusuke's concern. Both of you are dismissed to go back to class."

Yusuke and Hiei left the office and got half-way down the hall before Yusuke stopped Hiei.

"Are you still mad at me?"

"Maybe."

"Damn it Hiei. What's with the silent treatment? I'm just trying to help. Why'd you answer Takenaka when you haven't spoken to me once since you almost got yourself killed?"

"I don't owe you and explanation, detective."

With that Hiei stormed off back to class. Yusuke smiled as he watched him go. Hiei had just argued with him and hadn't given him a direct answer. He was starting to act like his old self again.

_Ok Hiei. If that's how you want to play then I'll play back. We'll talk later._

_With that Yusuke returned to class as well leaving everyone puzzled as to why he was smiling._


	21. You'll Just Have to Play By My Rules

_Hiei's Dare  
_Chapter 21:You'll Just Have To Play By My Rules  
June 14, 2003  
By CCD

A/N: Summer is here and more time to write. I'm sorry that it's taken so long. I had my Senior Board to finish as well as other personal obligations and then at the last minute I found myself moving from my dad's house to my moms (my parents are divorced for those who don't understand that). Anyway enough of my boring life and lets get to the good stuff. I'll try to make this an extra long chapter so that your wait won't be in vain.

Oh and just for reference. In the English version of YuYu, Kurama's stepbrother's name was changed to Kokoda. I think I like Suichi better.

* * *

**  
**  
The end of the school day couldn't end quickly enough for Yusuke. Hiei and he had been going back to school for a week and it was as boring as ever. Yusuke wanted to go sit on the roof but couldn't because he had to watch Hiei. He sighed as he looked over at Hiei. He seemed to be engrossed in the lecture Mr. Iwamoto was giving. 

That was the other weird thing of the day. They had walked into the classroom to find the two most hated teachers in the school had returned. The good thing was that they were so scared after the attack that they wouldn't let anyone get near them, let alone touch them. Needless to say their classes were getting a refreshing release from the teachers they knew as pains.

Yusuke yawned and looked back down at his notebook. He had been drawing goofy pictures instead of taking notes. He looked up at the clock to see that the bell would ring in a minute. Yusuke wanted to yell when it did. Iwamoto was the last teacher he had so he could go home after this.

"Now don't forget class. Your reports on _The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter_ are due next class. Dismissed."

(A/N: I know that's an odd book to pick, but there really is a book called that. I have to give credit to the Author, who I don't know the name of, and the 2nd Inu-Yasha movie for the tittle).

Yusuke got out of the classroom so fast that he almost forgot about Hiei. He stopped and leaned up against the wall in the hallway. When Hiei didn't come out of the classroom, Yusuke began to worry. He barely stuck his head into the room only to see Iwamoto at his desk.

"What do you want Urameshi?"

"I didn't see my cousin come out of the classroom so I came to see if he was still here."

"Well he's not so you can leave. I have things to do."

Yusuke turned and ran out of the classroom. He had to find Hiei before there was a repeat occurrence of a few days ago. He ran till he found Keiko and Kuwabara.

"Have either of you seen Hiei?" he asked quickly.

"I haven't seen him since class ended," Keiko replied.

"Did he take off again Urameshi?" Kuwabara asked.

Yusuke nodded.

"Yeah, help me find him."

"Let's split up. Yusuke, check your usual places to hide and the third and fourth floors. I'll check the first and second floors. Kuwabara go outside and see if he's on the grounds. We'll meet back here in a half hour," Keiko said.

Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded. The three of them split up and began the search for their friend.

Yusuke ran up the stairs to the roof. It was the last place on his list. If Hiei wasn't on the roof he had to hope Kuwabara or Keiko had found Hiei. He slammed the door open and winced as the sunlight blinded him. When his eyes adjusted he looked to see Hiei standing next to the fence. He was overlooking the landscape.

"Hiei, what are you doing?" Yusuke yelled.

Hiei turned to look at him.

"Hn, like it's any of your business detective," Hiei replied and then turned back to face the sunset.

"The hell it isn't. You're my responsibility."

"I've been here the whole time. I don't need a babysitter," Hiei said, not turning around to face Yusuke.

"But you didn't tell me you were coming up here. I've spent the last half-hour looking for you. The least you could have done is told me, especially after what happened last week."

"It won't happen again."

"The hell it won't. It could happen again."

Hiei didn't turn to face him. He didn't even respond to Yusuke's comment.

"Look Hiei," Yusuke said with a calm voice, "You're going to half to play by my rules from now on."

"Or what?"

"Or maybe it's time to turn you over to Koenma. His father would certainly be happy to have you in his grasp."

This made Hiei snap around. His face was pale and he wasn't happy.

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me, Hiei. I've had trouble up over my head since you took that stupid bet and I've been trying to help you, but you won't let me. As it is, you may be taken by Koenma's father anyway."

Hiei didn't respond but he scowled.

"Now Hiei, are you going to play by my rules or are we heading to Spirit World. And trust me, if you decide your coming home with me you better mean it. One more slip up and you'll be in Spirit World faster than you can say no to stop me."

Hiei looked away. Yusuke knew Hiei was mad at him. Hiei was physically shaking with furry. Yusuke was angry too, but if this was how it was going to be than this is what he had to do. The silence was soon interrupted by Kuwabara's voice.

"Urameshi, where have you..."

Kuwabara stopped when he saw what was going on. Keiko came out from behind him and also stopped when she saw Hiei and Yusuke. Yusuke ignored them both.

"I'm waiting for you answer, Hiei."

"I'm thinking," Hiei growled back.

"You have one minute before I drag you to Spirit World."

Hiei look away again.

_If I go to Spirit World than I'm dead, but if I stay with Yusuke I have to follow his every rule. I hate that. Damn it, but what choice do I have._

"Your minute is up, Hiei."

"I'll stay. I'll play by your rules," Hiei whispered in defeat.


	22. Trouble From the Outside

_Hiei's Dare  
_Chapter 22: Trouble From the Outside  
June 14, 2003  
By CCD

**

* * *

**

"Hiei," Yusuke yelled from the bedroom.

Hiei sighed. He had gotten up early and didn't want to stay in the same room is Yusuke. He decided to go to the living room and get some of his homework done. The teachers had given him all of his make-up work since his 'illness,' plus he had other homework that was due that week. He had to catch up and prove to Kuwabara that he could do this and try not to screw up at the same time to satisfy Yusuke. In truth, Hiei didn't want to answer Yusuke, but he knew he had to in order not to get into trouble.

"I'm right here, detective. If you had walked in here you would have known that."

Yusuke walked into the living room to see that Hiei was sitting in a sea of textbooks and papers. Yusuke had feared the worst when Hiei was not in the bedroom with him. Yusuke started to laugh when he realized Hiei was OK.

"Why are you laughing detective?"

"It's nothing. Just a me thing, I guess. Now let's get some breakfast. What do you want?"

"I'm too busy to eat."

"Suit yourself."

Yusuke went to the kitchen and began to make breakfast. Hiei went back to his work. In truth, it was difficult for him to concentrate. He had not gotten much sleep the night before and Yusuke was now up and would pay attention to every move he made. Hiei sighed in exasperation and put his homework down. He moved from his spot on the floor to the couch. He watched Yusuke move around in the kitchen for a minute before he layed down on the couch and closed his eyes. He would just rest a minute and then he would finish his work.

* * *

Yusuke walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of rice in his hands.

"Hiei, I brought you some food any…"

He paused when he saw Hiei was on the couch asleep. Yusuke smiled. At least he wouldn't cause any trouble while he was asleep.

_Oh well, more for me._

He took the bowl back to the kitchen and then went to the bedroom to get a blanket. He placed the blanket over Hiei's body and returned to the kitchen to eat. When he finished, the phone rang.

"Hello,"

"Hello Yusuke, how are things going?" Kurama asked.

Yusuke smiled. He could always count on Kurama if he needed something.

"Better, I guess. Hiei's not really happy with me."

"It will pass. Hiei doesn't really hold grudges for very long. Anyway that was the reason I was calling. Koenma contacted me since he could not get a hold of you. He's concerned. His father is pressuring him to take Hiei into custody. Koenma fears that his father will take action if he doesn't."

"Is it really that bad?"

"I'm afraid so. Koenma wanted me to warn you to keep an even closer watch on Hiei. He knows of the deal you made with Hiei, and his father knows of it. His father fears you will be too soft on Hiei and not deliver on what you said you would do. He doesn't want to deal with anymore trouble."

"I know and I said what I said out of anger. I don't plan on taking Hiei to Spirit World, but I still plan to hang my promise over his head for his own good."

"Just watch out Yusuke. King Yama won't hesitate to send his own men, the Spirit World Special Defense Force (SDF). They are the best Spirit World has. Be careful."

"I will Kurama. I'm not worried about a group of stupid tools. Besides Hiei will stay in line."

"Goodbye, Yusuke and good luck."

"Thanks Kurama. Talk to you later."

Yusuke hung up the phone.

_Now I just need to get Hiei to save someone by sacrificing himself. Fat chance he'll do it. It's not his style._

Yusuke walked back to the living room only to find Hiei awake and not happy.

"You…., you…" Hiei said as he jumped off the couch and looked at him.

"Me…what?"

"You lied to me. I heard the entire conversation. If you're so worried about your precious time, then I can leave."

"No Hiei, you're staying here."

He only made a growling noise and stomped into the bedroom. Yusuke started to follow him, but Hiei slammed the door in his face. When Yusuke went to open it he found that it was locked.

"Hiei, I'm not done talking to you."

Hiei didn't respond.

"HIEI OPEN THIS DOOR RIGHT NOW!"

Instead of a voice, Yusuke heard movement inside the bedroom. It sounded like someone hitting the floor.

"HIEI! I'M GIVING YOU TO THE COUNT OF THREE BEFORE I BANG THIS DOOR DOWN!"

Again there was no response.

"ALL RIGHT 1…2…3…" Yusuke yelled.

He bolted through the door only to see that Hiei was not alone. Members of the SDF were there. Hiei was knocked out and laying on the floor.

"What the…?" Yusuke got out before he was blasted backwards. He jumped up and ran to the doorway only to see the members of the SDF flying out of the window with Hiei."

"COME BACK YOU TOOLS!"

It was too late. They were gone.


	23. If You Don't Do Something, I Will

_Hiei's Dare  
__Chapter 23: If You Won't Do Something, I Will  
_June 14, 2003  
By CCD

A/N: Sorry about the lack of updates guys. I just started college and I'm stressed out. I also forgot that I left you guys hanging. (Thanks for those of you who have reminded me. You know who you are since I don't have the list in front of me.) Anyway on a semi-bad note I got to see the very last episode of YuYu (I bought the last dubbed DVD, it's all over cries), but we'll always have the boys to watch. All right! Now on to the next chapter, since I've left you in suspense the last time I wrote.

* * *

Yusuke desperately ran around trying to find his communications mirror. He needed to get to Spirit World and fast. He was too angry to talk to Koenma so he needed to talk to Boton. This is why he was looking for his communication mirror instead of reaching under his bed for his briefcase. His briefcase had been beeping for the past half-hour since. Hiei had been taken from the apartment. He had talked to Kurama and Keiko. They both told him to go see Koenma and see what it would take to free him.

"Ah ha, there you are?" Yusuke said in triumph.

The mirror had been wedged in-between the dresser and the wall. He quickly yanked it out and opened it to see Boton's face in the mirror.

"I thought you were never going to use this again because it looked like a compact and fate forbid you ever being seen with make-up."

"Enough Boton, I need to get to Spirit World. Now"

"And why should I…?"

"Because Hiei was taken by those stupid tools."

"The SDF?"

"Yeah, who else?"

"Oh dear, I'll be right there."

With that the screen went blank and Yusuke was left to wait in silence.

_I should have known that those tools would come for him eventually. Now I just hope I can get him back._

Five minutes later Boton showed up. She seemed quite upset.

"I can't believe that King Yama actually took Hiei away. Koenma said his father was going to give them another chance. I just don't understand it."

"Well let's go ask Toddler Bitch what the hell daddy dearest was thinking when he changed his mind."

Boton and Yusuke sped off towards Spirit World as fast as they could and after a few minutes they found themselves in front of Koenma.

"Start talking Koenma. What's going on?"

"It's complicated Yusuke. According to my father, despite Hiei's punishment, he has shown a great deal of threatening behavior, which leads my father to believe that he's still dangerous to humans."

At this, Yusuke slammed his hands on Koenma's desk. He was beyond pissed now.

"It's gone too far, Koenma. He doesn't deserve any more punishment. If he were a real threat he would have killed those two bastards. If you ask me they deserved it, even thought it goes against Spirit World's policy."

"It's too complicated Yusuke. You shouldn't interfere."

"If you don't do anything, Koenma, I will. I'm sick of seeing Spirit World treating demons as some kind of blame tool to get what they want accomplished. It's sick and I won't let it happen anymore," Yusuke said as he turned to walk out of the office.

"Now wait just a minute, Yusuke. I'll try talking to my father one more time. Just give me some time."

"You have thirty minutes to impress me Koenma and if nothing gets accomplished, I'll do it myself.

* * *

Koenma knocked on the door to his father's room. It was time to try again. He knew his father was going to be furious with him, but with Yusuke's threat hanging over him, it was better that he talk to his father.

"Enter," a voice boomed from the other side.

Koenma entered and shut the door behind him. He was scared of his father and disliked meeting with him. It was hard to be the son of the great King Yama.

"What do you want now, Koenma?"

"Dad, I've come to ask for Hiei's release."

"Didn't I already tell you why I am not releasing him and why I ordered his capture in the first place?"

"Yes dad, you did, but I fear that our Spirit Detective has different views on the matter. He told me that Hiei was capable of killing those two teachers and yet he didn't. He also could have done so much more damage than he already has. I see no reason that he shouldn't be released. Hiei has been stripped of his power and that is punishment enough. Besides, he is a valuable asset to my Spirit Detective outfit. I can't believe in your judgment of him and that is why I request for his release."

Koenma bowed as he finished. He hoped his father would listen to him and grant Hiei's freedom. If not, he feared the clash between his father and Yusuke.

"I know that Yusuke Urameshi has come to the Spirit World. Was this his idea for you to confront me with this?"

"Yes dad, he has full confidence in Hiei and so do I."

It was silent for a moment while King Yama thought it over.

"Very well then. I will give him one last chance. If he messes up again then he will be put into the custody of the SDF and placed on trial."

Koenma was shocked. His father had actually let Hiei go. Koenma bowed in thanks and quickly left his father's presence to go down to prison to retrieve Hiei.

"Koenma sure is taking a long time," Boton commented quietly.

"He still has five minutes to get back here with Hiei before I go King Yama hunting," Yusuke said from Koenma's desk chair.

As soon as he said this the door opened to reveal Koenma and a frazzled Hiei. Yusuke smirked.

"It's about time you got back. I was beginning to think I would get some action in some way."

"I think my father was convinced by your enthusiasm Yusuke. He said he would give Hiei one more chance and that if he screws up this time it's all over. Now if you would get out of my chair and leave me alone, I can get all this paperwork done."

"Sure let's go Boton. Come on Hiei**."**


	24. Helpless

_**Hiei's Dare  
**_**_Chapter 24: Helpless  
_June 14, 2003  
By CCD**

* * *

Yusuke was not in a good move when he and Hiei arrived back at the apartment. He was still pissed at the Spirit World for holding Hiei, when the ex-demon was trying doing better. As it was, Yusuke had no idea about how Hiei felt about the whole situation.

They walked into the apartment and immediately went to different rooms. Yusuke went to the living room while Hiei shut himself in the bedroom. Both wanted to sulk, destroy, and yell, but they were oblivious to the others feelings.

Yusuke saw the table in the sitting room. He stomped over to it and turned it over roughly. He then threw books at the wall. Hiei had been taken right under his watch and he had never felt so helpless. He was the Detective of the Spirit World and despite all of his power he had been helpless to save a companion and dare he say friend. Yusuke had also almost not been able to get him back. If he hadn't been bold enough and threaten the tiny ruler into speaking with his father, Hiei might have been a lost cause…

* * *

Hiei sat in a corner. The past couple of hours had felt like years. He felt as if he had lost everything; his powers, his pride, and his spirit. Never before had he been bested in such a way. As much as he hated to admit it, Kuwabara was right. It was hard to be a human.

He clenched his fist. Even he had been fallen prey to being helpless and looking completely hopeless. Hiei jerked at the sounds coming from the next room over. The detective was probably furious with him and was taking it out on some intimate object. They had not spoken a word on the way home and for Hiei it was mostly out of fear.

Yusuke had told him to unlock the door and come out of the room. If he had only complied with what the detective had asked of him, he wouldn't have been carted to Spirit World like a prize by those arrogant tools. It would have saved a lot of time and energy on both parties' parts.

Hiei pulled his legs up under his chin. He had never felt this way before. He was scared, lonely, and felt totally hopeless for the first time in his life. Things were not going to be easy for him for a while and he couldn't play by his own rules anymore.

* * *

Yusuke sat in the dark room surrounded by the mess he had made. He ignored the phone; too lost in his thoughts to care. In truth, he was worried about Hiei. The detective held onto the fleeting hope that Hiei wouldn't shut him and the rest of the world out. Yusuke knew that Hiei was on a downward spiral and no one knew how to bring him back up again.

What could be done to prevent such a thing from happening again? How could they become stronger? What steps did they need to take?

These questions flew through Yusuke's mind. He was lost and Hiei was even worse off than he was. Yusuke stood up and started to clean up the mess he made and continued to think on the problems that had now presented themselves.

* * *

Hiei didn't know how long he had sat there. The room had gotten progressively darker as the sun faded ending the day. The ex-demon had come to the conclusion that he would have to complete the dare and suffer the ways humans suffered for a while longer. His sword skills and his knowledge wouldn't help him in this world. He had survived this far on instinct and his demonic abilities, but they were not available to him at this point.

He was going to have to grit his teeth and ask the detective for help. Up until this point, it had been beneath him to rely on others. Hiei had been alone for most of his life and so it made since for him to rely on his own strength. Now he had no other choice.

Hiei stood and walked out to the living room, just as Yusuke did. They glanced at each other and turned away. Neither one knew what to say to the other. It was an awkward situation. They didn't move from the spot where they stared at each other.

"Hey, Hiei, how are you feeling?" Yusuke asked hoping to break the ice.

"Fine," Hiei replied quietly.

Yusuke was taken back. Hiei had said 'fine' instead of something like, 'it's none of your business.' After all that's happened, he'd be the last person Hiei would ever admit that to him.

"Ok, who are you and where did Hiei go?"

Hiei started to laugh. Yusuke was even more puzzled by this, seeing that he had only seen him laugh once and it was after an extremely stressful event. It was even more out of character than usual.

"Now, I'm really worried."

"Don't be," Hiei said in-between laughing.

It continued for a minute before Hiei had regained his composure. Hiei look Yusuke straight in the eye before explaining.

"I have never laughed so hard before in my life."

"I never would have guessed." Yusuke said sarcastically.

"Detective, I have always survived on my own strength, and up until today I've had complete and utter faith in all of my abilities. I never realized just how much I depended on my skills until the attack today."

"Hiei get to the point."

"As much as I hate to admit it, you were right detective"

"Ok, now I know you're not Hiei."

"I said I was going to play by your rules detective. I can't rely on my skills anymore, and as much as I don't like it, I'll have to rely on yours. Just don't tell Kuwabara."

Yusuke smiled.

"Ok, I won't."


	25. If I Didn’t Know Better

_Hiei's Dare  
__Chapter 25: If I Didn't Know Better I Would Swear You Were Human  
_June 14, 2003  
By CCD

* * *

A/N: Sorry everyone for the delay. I had College midterms and a great deal of writers block. I'm still willing to take ideas, but I am trying to tone things down so that I can bring the story to an end. I plan on solving Hiei's human problem before I finish, Hiei's lady friends will be making their appearance, and there will be a sequel that I'm currently working on. (I'll be causing problems for everyone's favorite fox instead of our friendly fire demon so stay tuned.) There will probably be only two or three more chapters left for this story so make it worth it while it lasts. 

As a method to my madness, I want everyone to let me know which of our ladies you like the best. Hinoki or Angel. They'll play a key role in a later chapter so I want an honest opinion. Thanks and I hope you enjoy this chapter

* * *

Hiei sat on the rooftop of the apartment complex where he now lived. Hiei enjoyed sitting in high places. It made him feel like he was free and he knew Yusuke wouldn't bother him. Yusuke knew that Hiei needed his space and felt that the roof was better than having Hiei run off. The ex-demon sighed and laid back so he was staring up at the sky. 

A sudden sound of footsteps made him glance at the door that led to the stairs. It opened to reveal Kurama. Hiei frowned and wondered why Kurama was there.

"What do you want, Kurama?"

"Nothing, I wanted to check up on you that's all."

Hiei made a small sound of annoyance as he sat up again and stared at the city. He doubted that it was what the fox wanted, but he would humor him. Kurama came and sat down next to him.

"I heard from Yusuke what happened the past couple of days. Do you want to talk about it?"

"Hn, so that's what you're here for."

"I figured it wouldn't hurt."

"I've made my decision Kurama, I'm going to do this stupid dare even if I die doing it. After all, you can never go back…"

Hiei left it hanging in the air. He didn't want to explain and Kurama knew better than to push Hiei into saying anything.

"I know things haven't been easy for you Hiei. I just wanted to tell you that if you need anything you can turn to me."

He glanced down at Hiei. It was hard for Kurama to believe that he was the same demon who had asked him help him take treasures from the demon world two years before. Hiei was dressed in a black t-shirt and a pair of jeans. His loose black hair was being blown about by the wind. Hiei's knees were drawn up under his chin and his arms were wrapped around his legs. If Kurama didn't know any better, he would say that Hiei was human.

"Stop staring at me fox. It's annoying."

Kurama started to laugh. It was so interesting to see how much Hiei had changed over the weeks.

"What is so funny?"

"You've changed so much. A week ago you wouldn't even think about giving an answer to anyone, even me. If I didn't know any better, I'd swear you were human."

"Hn,"

Hiei stood up and turned to walk back downstairs.

"Hiei, change is a good thing, remember that."

"That doesn't mean I have to like it."

Hiei walked down to the apartment. He walked in and noticed Yusuke was sleeping on the couch with the T.V. blaring. Hiei walked passed them, went to the bedroom, and shut the door. His books were laid out next to his futon.

He sat down and pulled one of his textbooks in his lap. Was he changing that much that everyone noticed? Hiei didn't want to become a human entirely. He wanted to be able to do the things he used to do when he was a demon, but he feared that the changes in his life would be his ruin.

He threw the textbook back on its pile. Hiei wasn't in the mood to do any schoolwork. He laid down and stared at the ceiling. This was a pain.

* * *

Kurama came into the apartment and woke Yusuke up from his nap. Yusuke sat up and gathered his bearings. He looked over at Kurama and smirked. 

"So, how did it go?"

"I don't know what he got from it. I think he's worried about becoming more human-like."

"Why would he worry about that?"

"I think he thinks, that the more human-like he becomes, the more he will become essentially a human. Demons don't take that very well, Yusuke. Even I had problems adjusting when my demon spirit entered a human body."

"It's still stupid. Hiei will still be Hiei no matter what happens to him."

"Yes, well try telling him that. I think, Kuwabara is getting exactly what he wanted when he gave Hiei the dare. I just hope there are no long term effects."

"I don't think there'll be any. Hiei's one of the toughest demons I know. He'll pull through."

Kurama smiled.

"We shall see. For now all we can do is watch over Hiei and make sure he doesn't do anything rash anymore."

"I think he's learned his lesson for a while. Having those stupid tools take him to Spirit World was a wake up call for him and I don't think he'll be that stupid anymore."

"Hm,"

The two of them were silent for a moment. They were thinking over things that were going on. Both of them knew that it would be for the best, but despite Yusuke's confidence, Kurama was still worried.

"I must be going, Yusuke. My mother will get worried. Call me if you need anything else and I'll see what I can do," Kurama said before he started for the door.

"Kurama, thanks."

Kurama turned and smiled.

"You're welcome"

* * *

The hours went by and neither Yusuke nor Hiei made their presence known to the other. Despite the fact that they had come to a truce, things were awkward between them. Yusuke had talked to Koenma and found out that the conditions of Hiei's bondage were still possible though it was slightly changed. Hiei would still have to perform a self-less act, but he would have to finish his time as a human. (See chapter 15 for original specifications.) King Yama was not someone to be messed with, and after what Yusuke did, he tacked on more punishment. 

Yusuke hoped that Hiei was up for it. He knew that he could never say anything about it, but hopefully King Yama will place an opportunity for Hiei to do something. It was difficult keeping such a secret from Hiei and it was hard watching Hiei tear himself up over stupid things.

Hiei on the other hand was tired of the detective and Kurama's nagging. He wanted to be left in peace so that he could wallow in his own misery. It was hard for him to focus because of the sympathy and the confusion that was going on in his world. The faster he became a demon again the better. Koenma had said six months and he had five more to go. He was moody, edgy, and restless.

Hiei sat up on his futon. His long hair fell over his face. He was tired of it all, but he knew he had to last a few more months.

_A few more months and it will all be over._


	26. Deliverance

_**Hiei's Dare  
**_**_Chapter 26: Deliverance  
_June 14, 2003  
By CCD**

A/N: I'm almost done with this story. Only two more chapters to go and then I'm going to start on its sequel. Only two more chapters to go after this. And I'm sorry this is so short. I wanted to update before I start my summer semester at college. My college is weird with two, eight-week blocks so the classes are sped up. It's going to be crazy and I may not be able to update for a while so here you go.

* * *

Yusuke walked to school with a grin on his face. He could feel it; today was going to be a good day. The young spirit detective looked behind him to see that Hiei was following him. Another month had gone by and the two of them were on better terms. It was just the other day that Yusuke had gotten Hiei to participate in a pillow war.

* * *

Flashback…

Yusuke came into the bedroom to see Hiei sleeping on his futon. Hiei was clinging to his pillow and was obviously comfortable. The spirit detective grinned an evil grin and grabbed his pillow from off the bed. Moments later he found himself pressing his pillow over the ex-demon causing his prey to wake and thrash about. After receiving a kick to the shins, Yusuke backed off and let Hiei catch his breath.

"I'm going to kill you," Hiei said in annoyance as he got up from the futon

Yusuke threw his pillow at Hiei with such force that it knocked him back down to his futon. Hiei grabbed his pillow and Yusuke's pillow and began chasing the detective with both.

* * *

Yusuke remembered that he had somehow gotten his pillow back from Hiei and the two of them had battled until they were both out of breath and had collapsed on the floor. The detective had been surprised at how long Hiei had lasted.

Now they were heading to school once again. Midterms were coming up and Kuwabara had boldly declared to Hiei that he would get a higher score. Yusuke had to laugh at this, especially since Hiei was tied with Keiko to be at the head of their class. Kuwabara would beat Hiei when pigs grew wings and flew.

Yusuke noticed that Hiei once again had his nose in a textbook. His long black hair fell over half of his face as it normally did. Yusuke sighed.

"How can you read that thing, let alone read it with your hair in your face?"

"I can't pass if I don't read and I can't prove Kuwabara wrong if I don't pass."

Yusuke made a sound of annoyance. He hated school, but had earned a better reputation with the teachers, since he had started attending regularly. His grades had improved some, but it wasn't from reading a stupid textbook. Heaven forbid the day Yusuke Urameshi was caught studying let alone reading his textbook.

It wasn't long before the two of them reached the school. Many of the students smiled and waved at the two of them. Hiei was quite popular and many of the students took his silence for modesty. Yusuke was still feared by some, but many had gotten over it. Among those in the courtyard were Hinoki and Angel.

"He's certainly changed," Angel said.

"Yeah, I think he took what we said to heart," Hinoki said remembering the day about a month and a half ago when they had talked with Hiei on the roof.

The two girls had not had any interaction with Hiei since then. They had seen him from time to time, but it was at a passing glance. For the most part the three of them had gone their separate ways and Hiei went as far at to avoid the two girls.

The bell rang and the students rushed in to their classes. Hiei and Yusuke met Kuwabara and Keiko in the classroom. After an argument between Hiei and Kuwabara, Mr. Iwamoto came in.

"Settle down," he snapped as the students began their uneventful school experience for the day.

* * *

School was uneventful as usual and soon Yusuke and Hiei were on their way home. Yusuke yawned and stretched. He hated the fact that school was always boring and dull compared to his life as a Spirit Detective.

"I don't know how you and Kurama can listen to these teacher drone on and on, Hiei. It's all boring and dull."

"Hn, it's because we realize the value of knowledge. If you actually thought for once, you might not have so many experiences with death."

"What ever you say."

Unbeknown to the traveling duo, a pair of eyes was watching them as they left the building. Angel had noticed that Hiei seemed more accepting of his curse and that it didn't seem to haunt him. She wanted to know what the key was to his sudden change.

* * *

Leaping from tree to tree, the young, female demon followed them in their course. They soon stopped at a street and it gave her a chance to catch up. She jumped to the tree nearest them and watched. Yusuke was rambling on about school while Hiei listened attentively. Angel stretched and startled a bird in the tree. It caused her to lose her balance and she began to fall.

* * *

Hiei and Yusuke were startled as a scream rang out through the area. They watched as a girl fell out of the tree and onto the road in front of them. Hiei recognized her immediately as Angel.

"What the hell…" Yusuke started to say as a car horn blared at the girl on the road.

* * *

Angel screamed. To her, this was a sorry way to die, but she knew she would never be able to get out of the way. She held her hands over her ears and closed her eyes. All of a sudden, she felt something hit her from the wrong angle. She felt herself fly through the air until she hit the ground. The next thing she heard was a shout that sounded distant to her ears.

"Hiei!"

* * *

To Yusuke, the events happened all too quickly. One minute, Hiei was standing beside him, and the next his bag had hit the concrete and he was on the other side of the street with the girl. At that point, Yusuke didn't care about the traffic or anything else. He grabbed Hiei's bag and sprinted across the road.

* * *

From that side of the road, Kurama and Kuwabara had seen the events. They had been walking to Kurama's house for a study session when the commotion had caused them to look back. As they watched Yusuke sprint across the road, they realized something was terrible wrong and ran to where Yusuke was.

* * *

Hinoki had also seen the scene unfold. She had been waiting for Angel outside the school, but when her companion never showed up, she had started for home. She had paid no attention to the noise ahead of her, until she saw Angel lying across the street with a familiar person lying on top of her.

* * *

Angel opened her eyes and saw that Hiei had been the one to push her out of the way. As his friends and Hinoki approached, she realized that Hiei was unconscious. The demon felt for his vitals and found that he was Ok.

"Hiei, what the hell was that for you idiot?" Yusuke yelled as he reached them, not realizing that his companion was unconscious.

"Yusuke, I do not think yelling will help right now. Besides, he is not able to hear you. It seems that for some reason, he is unconscious," Kurama said quickly as he bent down to check Hiei for any lasting injuries.

"Hn, if I had pushed a girl out of the way, I wouldn't be out cold," Kuwabara said.

"You idiot, your bragging doesn't help," Yusuke said.

"But why would he pass out just from saving me?" Angel asked finally getting the boys attention.

"I don't know. As it is, I don't know why he would even think to save anyone, so I would be thankful that he did such a thing," Kurama said.

"He's probably faking, so he could get some sympathy," Kuwabara snorted as he kept up his tough man act.

"Shut up," Yusuke yelled as he punched the boy to the ground and turned back to his unconscious friend.

"No, Kuwabara. He's not faking. It seems that by doing his good deed, his body was affected in some way. We should move him to another location and contact Koenma. He will know what is going on and what we could do."

Yusuke nodded. He picked up the ex-fire demon and carried him off towards his apartment. Kurama and Kuwabara followed him leaving the two girls alone to ponder what had happened and what could be done to repay, Hiei.


	27. Sense of Normality

_**Hiei's Dare  
**_**_Chapter 27: Sense of Normality  
_June 14, 2003  
By CCD**

**  
**A/N: I'm sorry for the wait. It's been crazy and I haven't had time to tweak this the way I wanted it to go. It was a mixture of writer's block, being busy, stress, and I've been sick off and on all summer. Having no A.C. sucks! I'll be back home for my off semester on Aug. 26th and then maybe I'll have more time for writing.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

"Toddler Bitch, you better tell me what's wrong with him or I'll…" Yusuke yelled at his briefcase monitor.

"Calm down Yusuke. I'm on my way to the Human World now. I'll be able to explain once I get there," Koenma said before disappearing from the screen.

"Damn it!"

Yusuke wanted to punch something. He had carried Hiei all the way back to the house and the ex-demon still hadn't woken up. Kurama had kicked Kuwabara out when he had gotten to annoying and had placed a wet cloth on Hiei's head. He now watched as the Spirit Detective walked over to the wall and punch a huge dent in it.

"Yusuke, perhaps that hostility would be better served for our next mission. Right now, our concern needs to be on what is wrong with Hiei."

The detective sighed. He knew Kurama was right, but that didn't help him at all.

"I just can't sit back and watch this keep happening Kurama. I know that this was what he had to do to go back to being a demon, but I wanted to be able to help him in some way. He's suffered so much because of the dare you know and it's just hard to sit back and just watch."

"Yes it's hard, but it's something we must do. We have to let Hiei fall and hope that he'll reach back up to one of us. We have to be prepared to grab on and keep him from falling."

Yusuke nodded. Kurama was right. Kurama was always right.

"You know, one of these days I'd like to see you be wrong for once."

The two of them laughed. It felt good to get some of their worry and stress out. It was during this time that Koenma showed up in his teenage form.

"Nice to see your not angry anymore Yusuke."

"Koenma this isn't really the time to discuss that. We do not know what's wrong with Hiei and we think that you do," Kurama said quickly knowing that Yusuke would blow up at the teenage ruler if he didn't.

"I know that he was suppose to become unconscious when he completed his task so that he could regain his powers, but since my Father decided that his powers were to be taken away longer, I don't really know what this is from. I'm here in case something bad happens. If he doesn't improve in the next couple of hours I'll talk to my father. He probably knows what's wrong with him."

The three of them were silent. They didn't know what they could do to help Hiei.

"So what do we do?" Yusuke asked.

"I don't know, Yusuke. We'll just have to wait until he wakes up to see what repercussions this has."

"Damn it!"

Yusuke marched out of the room. He didn't want to sit there and wait. The detective wanted to know what was going on with Hiei right at the moment. He walked out of the front door and slammed it hard behind him.

"He took it worse than I thought he would. Goes to show how well I know him," Koenma said with a huff.

"Yes, well he's gotten protective over Hiei, lately. It stands to reason that this would hit him hard," Kurama said as he replaced the cloth on Hiei's forehead.

"Do you think we should go after him?"

"Why don't we let him blow off some steam? He'll be back."

"You're right."

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

"Stupid toddler, stupid girl, and that stupid car, and stupid Kuwabara," Yusuke muttered under his breath.

Everyone moved out of the way of the angry teen. Even if they couldn't hear his ranting, they could tell that Yusuke Urameshi was the last person you wanted to cross at the moment or there would be hell to pay.

It wasn't very far before he found himself standing in front of Kuwabara's house. He reflected back on that day that seemed so long ago when this whole thing started off as a dare.

"_I dare you, Hiei. I dare you to go to school for the rest of this term and I also dare you to act like a human while you're going to school."_

The memory was still fresh in the teenager's mind as if it had happened only yesterday. He was a wreck; all of them were over a dare. The teenager took a deep breath. He needed to go back. Hiei was unconscious, he knew, but at least he could show the ex-fire demon that he was there for him when he eventually woke up.

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN

Red eyes fluttered open and shut quickly as the light blinded him momentarily. He shifted and winced at his sore muscles.

"Hiei, are you awake?"

He opened his eyes once more to see Kurama sitting beside his bed, book in hand. He watched the fox demon place a marker inside the book and place it on the bedside table.

"What happened? How long have I been out?"

"You have been unconscious for two days. You saved another apparition from being hit by a car. Both of you were lucky not to get too badly hurt. She walked away with a friend of hers and we brought you back to Yusuke's apartment shortly after it happened. You've been unconscious from the accident scene."

The two of them were silent for a moment before Kurama spoke up again.

"We were all worried about you. Yusuke has been taken this hard. I think he's taking this hard because he feels responsible for you."

"I can take care of myself."

Kurama smiled knowing that it was just a way for Hiei to relieve himself of whatever was going on at the time. It was, dare he say it, almost normal.

"It's nice to see you're back to your old self, Hiei." Koenma said as he came into the room.

"Hn,"

"I pretty sure that you want to know why your were unconscious after that little episode."

Even thought he was silent and wouldn't look Koenma in the face he knew that the ex-fire demon wanted an answer. Koenma knew no matter how hard Hiei tried, he could not deny the fact that he wanted to know any sort of vulnerability he had.

"I found out from my father that your body finally over exerted itself. All the things that have happened since the dare just kind of piled up and pushing that girl out of the way was the last thing your body could take. He also said that it was preparing for your demon abilities to come back. You'll probably feel small traces of your power, but you still have a few months until then, you'll just have to settle for the fact that they will come back. Oh, congratulations by the way."

"Hn, on what?"

"That's right you don't know. You had to perform a charitable act, like saving another person's life in order to get your powers back at all. I told everyone not to tell you because it had to be your choice to save a person."

Hiei was giving Koenma a look that said, "run if you don't want to die right now." Koenma smiled.

"It's really good to see you back to your normal self. I've got to be heading back to the Spirit World to take care of some things," he said turning to Kurama, "I'm leaving you in charge, Kurama. Look after Hiei and Yusuke and make sure they don't tear each other's limbs off.

Hiei fumed even more at the statement. Kurama stifled a laugh as Koenma exited. It felt good to see Hiei riled up a little. However, since overexertion was the partial cause of his collapse, Hiei would need to get some more sleep and eat something so he could recuperate.

"Why don't you lie back down, Hiei while I get you something to eat? You need rest and sustenance. I'll be right back"

The shorter person in the room huffed, but laid back down. Kurama smiled and got up to head to the kitchen. As he walked by the living room he saw Yusuke sitting on the couch. Since the Spirit Detective couldn't bring himself to fall asleep, Kurama had sedated him with a heavy dose of sleeping powder so that he would be out for quite some time.

"So, you're awake too."

"What'd did you do fox boy? Why do I feel so tired?"

"You were a bit restless, so I sedated you so that you could get some rest. Hiei's awake by the way."

That woke Yusuke up really quickly.

"He's what?"

Before Kurama could answer him, Yusuke was already half way down the hall. He flung the door open startling Hiei who had been drifting back off to sleep.

"Could you be any more louder, detective?"

"You jerk, if you do something like that again, you'll be unconscious cause I kicked your ass, not because you've overdone it."

"Give it a few more months and we can test that theory. I can assure you that it won't take much to beat you."

Kurama stood in the doorway listening to the argument. He sighed. Things really were going back to normal.


	28. Rising Dawn, Setting Sunset

_**Hiei's Dare  
**_**_Chapter 28: Rising Dawn, Setting Sunset  
_June 14, 2003  
By CCD**

A/N: WOW! This is where this story comes to an end. There was so much I had wanted to do it when I started it and I look at where it's come and it's nowhere close to how I envisioned it. C'est la vie. (Such is life.) I really hope that you've enjoyed this. The sequel is going to be a story focused on Kurama, but this story will continue on in the background. I hope that you will enjoy that story as much as this one. Thank you for your reviews, support, and constructive criticism! I really appreciate them.

* * *

The sun began to come up over the horizon. The world was just waking up save one being that had gotten up hours before hand. He sat on the balcony of the apartment and stared out as a new day began. A new life began.

The door to the balcony opened and two other teenagers came out to join the other. No words were spoken between the three boys. Each was contemplating something different and didn't want to disturb the peace between them.

It was funny, after all they had gone through over the years that they'd been together, this was probably their most hectic trial. They were all glad that danger was past and they had an opportunity to make things right again, a chance of being normal.

Kurama left the apartment silently and returned to his home to prepare to go to school leaving Hiei and Yusuke to make the decision to go themselves. The two sat for a few more minutes before coming to a small understanding and began to get dressed for the day.

They both knew that they were going to school. Hiei was still highly determined to meet the terms of the dare while Yusuke was going to play the bodyguard and to beat the crap out of Kuwabara at the end of the day or earlier if he got a chance. If he didn't do it, he knew Hiei would.

Yusuke wore a goofy grin on his face and Hiei followed behind him with his textbook in his hands. No one who saw them would know what had occurred a few days before hand let alone the past two months.

They walked up to the school and through the doors. Upon entering the classroom Keiko and Kuwabara looked up from where they were. Keiko smiled and waved at the two of them. Yusuke nodded his head in acknowledgement and Hiei ignored her as he sat at his desk. Kuwabara walked over to Hiei.

"So runt, you decided to show your face at school again. You done playing sick?"

"Hn, I was never sick, you moron," Hiei said.

"Hey Kuwabara," Yusuke said.

"What?"

"Roof, now"

A few minutes later Yusuke reentered the classroom with Kuwabara lagging behind. I was obvious that Yusuke had beaten the crap out of him. Kuwabara was helped to his seat by his friends while Yusuke took a seat next to Hiei. Keiko walked over to them.

"You know, Yusuke, you didn't have to beat Kuwabara. You could get expelled you know."

"He had it coming, Keiko."

"Oh yeah, why?"

"Um…well you see…it's a personal reason between me, Kuwabara, and Hiei; right Hiei?"

"Hn,"

Keiko rolled her eyes and sighed before walking away. Yusuke watched her walk away before turning at Hiei. The ex-demon was still reading his textbook. Yusuke leaned over.

"What's eating you?"

Hiei didn't answer. Instead, he stood up and slammed his textbook shut. He started towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Yusuke called.

"The roof, I need some air. I'll be back."

* * *

Hiei had been sitting on the roof for hours. He was thinking of the things that had occurred over the past two months, from the dare to that day. So much had happened. As he sat there, he heard light footsteps coming up the stairs. The door swung open. Hiei didn't bother to turn around. He knew who it was.

"What do you want?" he said annoyed at the eyes watching him.

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you save me from that car?"

Hiei didn't answer Angel. He felt like he owed her nothing. If anything she owed him.

"Answer me, damn it. Why did you save my life?"

"Why should I tell you that? I don't owe you anything."

"I just want a simple answer. Is that so hard for you to give that to me?"

They were silent for a few minutes. Hiei finally decided to say something.

"I don't know."

"What?"

"I don't know."

"You don't know why you jumped in front of a moving car to push me out of the way."

"No, I don't," He said finally turning around to face her.

She had a skeptical look on her face. A moment later, Hinoki came running up the stairs.

"There you are! What are you doing up here? We were supposed to meet for lun…" she said before she saw Hiei sitting near the fence.

Hiei scowled and turned back around. He didn't want to deal with these women at the present time.

"I'd believe I'll leave you two alone. I'll be in the classroom when you're done."

"I'll be down in a minute, Hinoki."

Hinoki left as quickly as she had come. As her footsteps faded away, Angel turned back to Hiei.

"I guess it doesn't matter why you saved me. I guess I should thank…"

"Don't. You don't owe me anything and I don't owe you anything, woman. In a few months I'll be out of your life and you'll be out of mine. It'll be best if you and your friend just stay away and mind your own business from now on."

"Fine, that's the least we can do. Goodbye then Hiei."

Hiei said nothing as she walked away from him for the last time. He continued to contemplate events, until the sun began to set. The ex-demon once again heard footsteps on the stairs to the roof. There were multiple people coming upstairs. The door opened to reveal Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Keiko who was holding Puu.

"You know, you little punk, if you decided you were going to skip, we could have stayed at home," Yusuke said earning him a light punch in the arm from Keiko.

Yusuke began to argue with Keiko and Kuwabara began to tease him. Yusuke began to beat Kuwabara again with Keiko nagging at him to stop. Hiei made a sound of annoyance and turned back towards the sunset. Kurama walked over and stood behind him.

"So Hiei, are you feeling any better?"

"Hn, I'm fine."

Kurama smiled at Hiei's response. He turned back and watched the commotion wind down behind him. Yusuke glanced over at them.

"Hey, Kurama, Hiei, let's head back to the apartment."

"And why would I want to do that detective?"

"Come on, Hiei. You can think at home on the balcony as you can here."

Yusuke began to go downstairs followed by Keiko and Kuwabara. Kurama hung back for a moment. He looked back at Hiei as he listened to Yusuke and Kuwabara racing down the steps.

"Are you coming Hiei?"

"I'll be down in a minute."

"I'll get your bag and books from your desk then. We'll wait for you in front of the school."

Hiei said nothing as Kurama left the roof. He watched the sun set a little before standing. He slowly made his way down the stairs and in front of the school where everyone was waiting for him.

They began to walk home as the sun continued to set bringing an end to a stressful past couple of months. The group began to walk away from the school sharing the rest of their day as they normally would. It was a chance for new beginnings and for an opportunity for peace to fall upon troubled minds.

* * *

Around midnight, Hiei sat up in his bed. He couldn't sleep. Yusuke was passed out on the bed. Kurama and Kuwabara were sleeping in the living room since it had gotten too late for them to go home. Keiko had left just after they had arrived.

The ex-demon couldn't sleep. He snuck out of the room and passed by the living room and out the front door. He climbed the stairs and went to the roof. The sky was littered with stars. It wasn't the sunset, but it was enough that Hiei could think about these things.

"Couldn't sleep, Hiei?"

He looked behind him and saw Kurama.

"I couldn't either. I heard you leave."

"Hn, what do you want fox?"

"Are you really Ok?"

"I will be."

"You seem to be adjusting well to this whole thing now."

"Kurama, all I want is to get my demon powers back and then I'm going back to Demon World where I belong."

"You never know, you have a few months left without your powers. You might change your mind."

"Hn, I doubt it."

They were silent for a few minutes. Kurama decided to speak up once again.

"Do you regret doing what you did?"

"Those bastard teachers deserved it. I only regret that I let myself get caught."

Kurama let a small smile cross his face. It was a relief to see Hiei was adjusting to the Human World at least a little bit.

"Well, I'm heading in. I have a test tomorrow and should get some sleep," the red head said as he turned to head back.

"Kurama…"

Kurama stopped and turned back. The former fire demon still had his back turned to him. He was looking up at the full moon.

"Thank you…"

Kurama was startled. It was not in Hiei's nature to thank anyone even if it was for something as simple as friendship. He smiled gently and turned back around.

"You're welcome, Hiei"

"Kurama…"

"Hm…"

"If you tell anyone that I said that, I will rip out your vocal cords."

"Don't worry Hiei. This stays between us."

Good.

Kurama walked back downstairs leaving Hiei alone with his thoughts. How long he sat there, he didn't even know. Finally coming to some semblance of peace, he walked downstairs and into the apartment. He walked passed the living room glancing in seeing the Kuwabara was passed out. Kurama opened his eyes and glanced around. Upon seeing Hiei, he smiled before settling back down to sleep.

Hiei then made his way to the bedroom he shared with Yusuke. He paused in the doorway to glance around the room before entering. Hiei closed the door softly behind him and laid down. Sleep still seemed to evade him.

He got up and walked back into the living room. A few loud smacks and a yell that woke the household rang out. Hiei left the living room. As he came to the bedroom Yusuke stood in the doorway. They shared a smirk before returning to their beds and fell asleep knowing that tomorrow would bring about more adventures and another chance to beat on Kuwabara.


	29. Sequel Notice

Hey everybody!

I just wanted to let everybody know that the sequel is up. It's called Kurama's Challenge and although my major focus will be on Kurama, I am going to try to tie Hiei into the story line as much as my muse will allow. Thank you for your support and reviews and I hope to see many of you come back and continue the journey with me!

Any questions or comments, you can send me an e-mail, review, or post on my forum (See Bio for e-mail and forum link)

Thanks again for the support!

CCD


End file.
